Billy Frank Jr., 1931-2014. Photo from Facebook

I can hear his voice boom, even now. "Gawd-damn it Mark, how-in-the-hell are you? Gawd-dammmmn it's good to see you."

The best rebels are those who are happy. They know they are right and convince others with their light, rather than just being an obstacle. They smile as they fight. Urging you to join along. They win you over. In my journalism career I have only met a few people like that: Billy Frank Jr. has to be at the top of the list.

Think about his remarkable journey -- one summed up in my favorite Billy Frank Jr. quote. He said: "I was not a policy guy. I was a getting-arrested guy.”

But all of those arrests led to something. He became friends with those who shackled him. He was appointed to offices by the same governors who once had him arrested.

He convinced the entire establishment in the Pacific Northwest that he was, indeed, right and that folks were better off joining him in his cause.

And because of Billy Frank, Jr., the salmon survive today and have returned to streams where they were once extinct. And the tribal communities of the Northwest are stronger in so many ways.

Thank you Billy Frank. I'd love to hear the conversations you're having now. I bet there are a lot of people glad to see you. RIP.

Mark Trahant is the 20th Atwood Chair at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He is a journalist, speaker and Twitter poet and is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Join the discussion about austerity. Comment on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/TrahantReports