Unfulfilled, ignored, and broken treaty obligations cutting off their access to fishing, hunting, and foraging had left Nisqually Tribal members facing severe hunger. In 1963, Billy Frank Jr. took up civil disobedience as a survival strategy, launching “fish-in” protests that gained national media and celebrity attention. By 1974, the courts determined that the Nisqually had a right to one half of the fish harvested from their river, establishing important precedent for future challenges by Indigenous communities.