“But what I really learned from Vi is how to live my life in this culturally rich place I call home.”
In 1978, Seattle writer Janet Yoder took a Lushootseed class at the University of Washington with Skagit tribal elder Vi Hilbert. Janet was expecting to learn a little about this local indigenous language, but what followed was a lifelong journey with Vi, who endeavored to preserve a language on the brink of disappearance.
I write to consider place, culture, memory, longing.
Praise for Where the Language Lives
“Where the Language Lives is a warm woven blanket of a book. [. . .] This book lifted my spirits, held my heart, and spoke to me in a universal language—love.”
— Kira Jane Buxton, author of Hollow Kingdom and Feral Creatures
“A masterful presentation of the beauty and depth of Coast Salish lifeways, marvelously embodied in the life and teachings of Vi Hilbert. It is written in a flowing style, one revelation after another given just when the time is right.”
— Patrick J. Twohy, author of Beginnings—A Meditation on Coast Salish Lifeways