White House, Bellingham honor Billy Frank Jr. | The Bellingham Herald

Bellingham officially changed Indian Street to Billy Frank Jr. Street on the same day it was announced he would be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The White House announced Monday, Nov. 16, that Frank, the late treaty rights activist, would be one of 17 Americans both living and dead to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor on Nov. 24.

The list of other honorees includes many recognizable names such as Yogi Berra, James Taylor, Stephen Sondheim, Steven Spielberg, Willie Mays, and Emilio and Gloria Estefan. It also includes some that may not be as well-known: Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to Congress; Bonnie Carroll, who dedicated her life to caring for veterans and their families; Minoru Yasui, who fought for civil rights as a Japanese American following World War II, and several others who have made “especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

“These men and women have enriched our lives and helped define our shared experience as Americans,” President Barack Obama said in the announcement.

Street change

On Monday morning, a small group gathered near Laurel Park to watch as the first Billy Frank Jr. Street sign was posted on what used to be Indian Street.

Bellingham City Council agreed to change the name to honor the late Native American treaty rights activist earlier this year.

Terry Bornemann, the council member who first proposed naming a street in Frank’s honor, gave a short speech to recognize Frank’s accomplishments.

“He was a great Nisqually leader,” Bornemann said to the group. “He was a man who used both words and actions to fight for treaty and civil rights for his tribe and the greater Coast Salish people.”

Frank was not afraid to fight for his rights and the rights of others, Bornemann continued, citing the fact that Frank was arrested more than 50 times as he fought to have treaty rights recognized, upheld and enforced during the “Fish Wars” of the ’60s and ’70s.

That civil disobedience led to the Boldt decision in United States v. Washington, which affirms that treaty fishermen have the right to half the catch in the state.

Bornemann recognized the input he’d received on the name change from Western Washington University professor Vernon Damani Johnson, who teaches political science. Johnson said he and Bornemann had weighed options for where the street name would be most visible, such as downtown, but also have few impacts on merchants who would have to change their address.

“I said why not change Indian Street?” Johnson said. “As we’ve pointed out, it leads to the university. It’s a teachable opportunity if people ask, ‘Who was Billy Frank Jr.?’”

About a dozen signs will be changed out this week, including large signs on the signals where the street crosses Chestnut and Holly streets, said Tom Oberlander, the public works employee who installed the first sign Monday.

Elden Hillaire, chair of the Lummi Fisheries and Natural Resources Commission, said it was an honor to be there Monday morning and to see the street memorialize such an honorable man.

“As a Northwest Indian fish commissioner, Billy taught me something new every day,” said Hillaire, who serves on the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. “He was more than protecting mother Earth, he was serving the world. ”

Also in attendance Monday were siblings Nathaniel and LeAndra Smith, whose grandpa Jim Smith Sr. is a first cousin of Billy Frank Jr.

“Billy Frank single-handedly kept our right to fish in this area,” Nathaniel Smith said. “He went through those growing pains for us, and it’s an honor for you to name the street after him.”

Frank was born March 9, 1931, and died May 5, 2014.