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. Yoder was expecting to learn a little about this local indigenous language, but what followed was a lifelong journey with Vi, who worked to preserve a language on the brink of disappearance. Thanks to Vi Hilbert's work and those who now have taken it on, Lushootseed is on the rise. Drawn from thirty years of friendship, adventures, and interviews, Where the Language Lives is a tribute to Vi Hilbert's life, work, and quest to preserve her native language. Her historical preservation efforts were recognized with a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and she was named a Washington State Living Treasure in 1989. To honor and celebrate the life and achievements of her dear friend and mentor, Janet Yoder has woven what she learned from Vi Hilbert with the story of Vi's life and work to create these essays. Where the Language Lives is a tribute to the memory of a woman who profoundly impacted a culture, a history, the longevity of a language, and even the larger world

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