Honoring Billy Frank Jr.: A Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a Bellingham Street

illy Frank Jr., the Nisqually Native rights activist whose protests and fish-ins during the 1960s and 1970s often landed him in jail, will be posthumously awarded the nation’s highest civilian accolade, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, on November 24, the White House announced on Monday.

“Billy Frank Jr. was a tireless advocate for Indian treaty rights and environmental stewardship, whose activism paved the way for the Boldt decision, which reaffirmed tribal co-management of salmon resources in the state of Washington,” the White House said in a release.