Shirley Temple supported Lummi rights

Lummi Elder Remembers Shirley Temple Black

By Tanya LeeWe were trying to create some economic development in the Lummi Tribe. We had nothing here. So we decided to exploit the tideland, which was just sitting there. All we had to do was create a pond. We were going for a 7-acre pond in the tidelands and raising clams and oysters and whatever else we could raise.

People opposed it. I think they would have opposed anything that Native Americans were doing here in the community.

Miss Black, Shirley Temple Black, heard about our plight, so she and Marlon Brando got here and voiced their opinions to the public that they supported us. She let people know she was supporting the Lummi tribe and the efforts they were taking to raise shellfish. And we built a farm, a hatchery, clam hatchery and oyster hatchery; the thing's still surviving.Comment:  For more on Shirley Temple and Indians, see Susannah of the Mounties.

Below:  "Shirey Temple visits Lummi aquaculture in early 1970s."