US Navy to name ship after renowned Nisqually Tribal activist Billy Frank Jr.
The U.S. Navy has announced that it will name a future Navajo-class Towing, Salvage, and Rescue ship after Nisqually environmental and Tribal rights activist Billy Frank Jr.
The USNS Billy Frank Jr. (T-ATS 11) “will provide ocean-going tug, salvage, and rescue capabilities to support Fleet operations,” the Navy’s news release said. U.S. Navy ships can be towed by Navajo-class ships and have 6,000 square feet of deck space.
In a prepared statement from Willie Frank III, son of Billy Frank Jr. and Chairman of the Nisqually Indian Tribe, Willie Frank said that the naming of the ship is “truly an honor for the Frank family, Wa-he-lut School and the Nisqually Nation.”
Willie Frank noted that his father, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 83, was proud to have served his country in the U.S. Marine Corps.
“He is still teaching and bringing us together,” Willie Frank said. “We have a chance to tell our story and educate a whole new audience about the Nisqually Tribe, Billy Frank Jr., and the 29 tribes in the state of Washington. As Chairman of the Nisqually Tribe, we want to thank the United States Navy for recognizing and honoring our Nisqually veteran, father and uncle. This also honors all Native Americans who serve in the military at the highest rates per capita of any population.”
The Navy’s news release noted Frank’s many contributions to environmental and Tribal treaty rights, including his “fish-ins” at the Washington State Capitol, where he protested the arrests of Indigenous fishermen who had been blamed for the decline of stock at salmon fisheries in the 1960s.
Republican House Rep. J.T. Wilcox and his family has had ties to the Frank family and the Nisqually Tribe for generations. He told McClatchy that he thinks the decision to name the ship after Billy Frank Jr. is a good idea and validates how perceptions have changed about Washington State Tribes.
“This is one more recognition of what an impact he made on the world,” Wilcox said.
Additionally, Wilcox said, Frank helped people understand that the Nisqually culture not only depended on the natural world, but also the act of harvesting fish.
“Billy’s victory has become mainstream now. There’s no dispute that he was right,” Wilcox said.
The Navy’s news release noted that “the name selection follows the tradition of naming towing, salvage, and rescue ships after prominent Native Americans or Native American tribes.”
“I am honored for the opportunity to name a naval ship after Billy Frank Jr., a man who was a proponent and leader for Native American rights,” Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said in the news release. “Billy Frank Jr. spent his life serving others and his namesake ship will do the same as it travels around the world enabling humanitarian assistance and the maintenance of freedom.”
A spokesperson for the Navy Office of Information told McClatchy in an email that at this time there are no details for the commissioning date of the USNS Billy Frank Jr. However, they said that “the keel laying is projected for later this summer and the christening is projected for early 2024.”
In addition to the Naval ship, a statue of the late Tribal activist will represent Washington state at the nation’s Capitol building after state lawmakers voted to remove the current statue of pioneer Marcus Whitman, although it is unclear when the Frank statue will be finished.
In 2015, Frank was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That same year the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge was renamed the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.
This story was originally published July 26, 2023 at 2:30 PM.
