[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 26 (Thursday, March 9, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S1389]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            VI HILBERT, WINNER OF THE ``POWER OF ONE'' AWARD

 Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, today I am delighted to honor the 
achievements of a remarkable Washingtonian for her work in preserving 
the culture and traditions of the Pacific Northwest. For all her 
efforts, Upper Skagit elder Vi Hilbert is one of the Washington Women 
2000 ``Power of One'' Award recipients.
  A native speaker of Lushootseed, Vi has worked tirelessly to preserve 
the indigenous language of the Puget Sound area as well as the stories 
and history of the Pacific Northwest tribes.
  In 1983, Vi founded Lushootseed Research which is a non-profit 
organization to preserve the Lushootseed language through audio and 
printed materials as well as education. Vi taught Lushootseed language 
and literature classes at the University of Washington for 15 years.
  In addition to preserving her own native tongue, Vi has served to 
preserve art, artifacts and cultural heritage of tribes from all of the 
Pacific Northwest. She serves on the advisory board for the Burke 
Museum and the Seattle Art Museum and is an active board member of 
United Indians of All Tribes and Tillicum Village.
  On behalf of all of us who treasure the heritage of the Pacific 
Northwest, I thank Vi for all her efforts. She is a tremendous example 
of the ``Power of One.''

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