It's Seattle, and it's raining. Funny thing.

Billy Frank stands in the rain on the banks of the Nisqually River in the Nisqually watershed. The watershed is about 90 miles to 100 miles long--river miles, Billy clarifies--and it's where his people have lived for thousands of years.

"The Nisqually tribe is one of 20 tribes along the Pacific coast and inside Puget Sound on the western side of the mountain," Billy says. "We're all making sure that this watershed is here for the next thousands of years. We all work to protect this great land.

"This is the salmon's home," he says, gesturing toward the river. "The salmon goes out in the ocean for seven years and when he comes back we want to make sure that this home is here. That means all of the trees, that means the environment, that means the quantity and quality of the water, that means everything has to be intact."

Salmon is to the Northwest what corn is to Iowa although salmon aren't nearly as abundant. If the salmon failed to return, it would be far more devastating for the long run than a season's corn crop failure. Yet salmon's cultural significance is of even greater importance to the Northwest than its contribution to the economy. The life of the salmon is deeply connected to the life and spirit of the people; both native and non-native people here speak of the salmon in reverent tones.

"It's part of the blood that flows through ourselves, and we talk about salmon like they're part of our family," Billy says. "Our first ceremony is for our salmon when they come back. We have our drums and we have our ceremonies and everything is about the salmon.

"Life and salmon are together and all of our medicines and all of our trees and all of our environment, our rain, our sun, our moon that guides all of the salmon back to us, they're all together. This is what it's all about.

Salmon have been through some hard times. Their river spawning beds became inaccessible to them by dam construction. Their waters were warmed and polluted, their food sources depleted. They were heavily fished. Many who saw the salmon as a species whose well-being signaled the health of the environment became alarmed at the sharp decline in their numbers. The cry was raised - and heeded.

"I saw the bad parts and I see where we have cleaned up a lot," says Billy, who was chosen by area tribes as the chairman of the Northwest Indian Fish Commission. "We did a lot by working together and having education as part of everything that we did. We have a coalition now so we can make sure that the quality of life that we all enjoy up here in the great Northwest is protected."

Billy looks toward the sky, lifting his face to the clouds. His quiet voice sounds like the water flowing over rocks in the river. Like the river, he is in no hurry.

"You know the river, as it flows here, this river is nothing but life."

If Billy never misses an opportunity to enlighten a mind or change a heart, it's just part of who he is. He's one of the founders of Wahala Indian School at Frank's Landing Indian Community near Seattle.

"Billy's one reason we are here on this land today," says John Claymore, principal at the school. "Billy is a role model for all of us. He's just somebody that we all look up to and look to for vision.

Claymore is in his fourth year at Wahalu School, and embraces the gifts Billy has given to the school.

"We came up with some of our own curriculum. Students help with the salmon habitat and do things like canoeing on the Puget Sound.

"We do a lot of Native American culture within our school. We do that for different reasons. One, we implement that to build on the self esteem of kids, instilling who they are and what they're about and why they need to be proud to be Native. The kids feel a sense of identity and belonging."

Belonging to, and being part of, the earth is Billy's basic philosophy, and every word from his mouth is about being connected and working together for the environment that supports all life.

"One of the things I always talk about now is the importance of keeping our country clean. We have to find a balance for our environment and our country and our clean water, our oysters and all of our animals that are out in the sea."

Billy looks at life as a story of the past from which people learn how to walk into the future. His story tells him that it is time to bring people together into a close circle so that the future can be a good one for all.

THE FOUR CITIES OF EDENS LOST & FOUND:
Chicago
Los Angeles
Philadelphia
Seattle