[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 135 (Saturday, November 20, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2125-E2126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         GERALD ``SUBIYAY'' MILLER RECEIVES HERITAGE FELLOWSHIP

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. NORMAN D. DICKS

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                      Saturday, November 20, 2004

  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, on September 30, in the Cannon Caucus Room, I 
was privileged to present the National Endowment for the Arts' National 
Heritage Fellowship to my constituent, Gerald ``Subiyay'' Miller, from 
Shelton, Washington. The Heritage Fellowship is the highest honor our 
country gives to folk and traditional artists.
  I could not be prouder of Subiyay. I am also proud of the National 
Endowment for the Arts for starting this program 25 years ago. And I am 
proud to live in perhaps the only country where such awards could be 
given--honoring traditions from our First Americans to cultures from 
every region of the world.
  Mr. Speaker, in the night before the ceremony, Subiyay, gave a noble 
and moving closing to the banquet for the 2004 Heritage Fellows and 
their families. Just as he weaves his ``story baskets'', he wove some 
of the creation story of his people into his observations about the 
role of art in civilization. I would like to share his story with my 
colleagues.

 At the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship 
  Banquet in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress--September 29, 
                                  2004

       Barry Bergey (NEA Director of Folk and Traditional Arts): 
     I've asked Gerald Miller to go last. I think it's appropriate 
     that we're in this Library, this great repository of 
     learning, surrounded by so much knowledge. So many of the 
     Native Americans Elders have retained that knowledge. You 
     know the African proverb that ``When an elder dies, it's like 
     a library burning down.''
       We actually have two elders here. We have a previous 
     National Heritage Fellowship recipient, Vi (Violet) Hilbert, 
     sitting next to Gerald. [Applause] She received the award 
     about 10 years ago for retaining her language and her 
     stories.
       Gerald, Subiyay as he is known in his language, Skokomish 
     (Twana), was the last living speaker of that language. Now he 
     has taught many young people. He hasn't taught them just the 
     language. He has taught them the crafts, the music, the 
     ceremonials, the use of regalia, the making of regalia.
       I have asked him to come up and say a few words and, if he 
     would, to sing a song--a blessing song--for us to end the 
     evening.
       Please make welcome Subiyay. [Applause]
       Gerald (Subiyay) Miller [Strong, measured, gravely voice]: 
     In the beginning of time the humans were given the first 
     gift. It was gifted to us before language. It was a gift 
     before all other things. It was the gift of the drum. And its 
     sound was the heartbeat of our mother. As unborn infants, we 
     heard it as we grew in her body; giving us all the rhythm of 
     life, the rhythm of the teachings and the beliefs that we 
     would follow. The drum is an important part of most cultures 
     of the world. We have many phrases that have to do with the 
     rhythm of the drum. We for instance might walk to the beat of 
     a different drum. The drum excites us. The drum soothes us. 
     The drum puts us in step with one another with its beat.
       The second gift to the human beings was the gift of song. 
     And the song came before the spoken languages that we have as 
     people on this earth. It was given to us by the bird people. 
     It was given to us to express ourselves in the truest form of 
     expression that we as human beings would ever have, the 
     expression of song. Song allowed us to express every emotion 
     that we as human beings would feel. Song is so important that 
     many of our early cultures used it as a tool in teaching, 
     because is causes something called subliminal implanting. If 
     we sing a teaching, it will stay with for our entire life.
       Long ago we sang the teachings of our ancestors. We are all 
     born with a song--Our Spirit Song. From the moment we leave 
     the womb of our Mothers our song is within us. We have songs 
     that we call mood music. How many nations are there without a 
     song or anthem? How many religions use song to express their 
     hopes and convictions? We have songs to honor another year of 
     life. We have songs for weddings. We express ourselves 
     through song. And all of us, although we might acknowledge or 
     not acknowledge ourselves as singers, when something 
     wonderful happens, we feel like singing. It's the spirit of 
     the songs that lives within all of us.
       My elders say we are all born with a spirit song. Our 
     children will prove it to us. As they learn to speak, they 
     all sing little singsongs about their world; regardless of 
     what culture we come from. If a song expresses our true 
     emotions, we sing it.
       The next gift that came was dance. We were also given dance 
     before language. We were given dance to ``tell the story''--
     to tell the story of our people. Song and dance are probably 
     the oldest forms of art that we as human beings have to this 
     day. In my language the word dance means more than ``get up 
     and boogie.'' Dance is non-verbal. It is communication by 
     gesticulation.
       There's one dance that we can do with one finger and we all 
     know what that gesture/dance means. We don't have to express 
     it with words. We dance with the expressions of our faces. We 
     dance with the gestures of our hands. We dance with the 
     posture of our bodies. We dance with the tilt of our head. 
     Children, even before they learn to speak, understand these 
     dances. They see it in us as parents and as teachers. The 
     power of dance will forever be with us.
       Then came the spoken language. With language came the story 
     of our People. With language came the gift of long memory. We 
     were given language to carry the knowledge of our ancestors 
     from the beginning of time to this very moment, in this room, 
     and on into the future. The power of language contains the 
     power of the story. We see in this room all the races of 
     mankind represented. All of us started from a different trail 
     at the beginning of time, we have conjoined here at a common 
     spot, sharing this moment in time together. We sit here, our 
     hearts beat together. We breathe the same air and we are 
     enjoying each other's company. We eat together.
       History would not exist if it were not for the artists. 
     There are cultures all over the world that no longer exist. 
     The important thing that they left behind was their art--
     writings on the rocks, artifacts, beautiful songs from the 
     beginning of time. Some dances are thousands of years old. 
     They are still alive, giving testimony to those who 
     created these forms of art. All of us who are artists have 
     had our mentors. We have our ancestors to thank for the 
     gifts that we as humans were given--given to express our 
     soul, and our hearts to the people. Art is a powerful form 
     of expression. Our art tells our stories. And we, the 
     artists, who are here can appreciate one another from that 
     mutual understanding.
       I want to extend my gratitude on receiving this award to 
     all of our ancestors who left with us the gifts that we 
     exhibit today; the gift of the song, the gift of the dance, 
     the gift of the story and the gift of creativity. As long as 
     we keep these traditional arts alive, we speak for our 
     people.
       I look at our sister artist Koko (blues musician Koko 
     Taylor from Chicago) and know how her blues music moves me. I 
     look at the family of puppeteers (Yuqin Wang and Zhengli Xu 
     from Aloha, Oregon) who carry on an art form over two 
     thousand years old. I look at our sister here from India 
     (Kathak dance Anjani Abegokar from Diamond Bar, California), 
     carrying on an art form known to be at least four thousand 
     years old. And because of her it lives and flourishes. 
     Because there was someone who cared. There was someone who 
     listened. There was someone who had a teacher.
       For all of us who live, for all of us who are being 
     recognized in this room, we honor those who had an influence 
     on our life. Because now through our art form we speak for 
     them.
       Einstein said there are two kinds of knowledge, stored 
     knowledge and living knowledge. Stored knowledge can be put 
     in a book and set aside, and looked at later. But living 
     knowledge has to be expressed, felt, spoken and demonstrated. 
     There is no replacement for living knowledge. My grandfather 
     told me that I could be anything that I wanted; and I 
     believed him. He said our people became lazy when they 
     learned how to write because they no longer relied on their 
     memory and their personal discipline. They think that they 
     can look it up in a book or listen to a tape recording. But 
     the written word is

[[Page E2126]]

     only a shadow of the spoken word. The written word can't 
     facilitate the same feeling as the spoken word can.
       To my first teacher I owe my beginning. My first teacher 
     was my great grandmother who was born in 1861 and began my 
     instruction in 1948. My most recent mentor is still living 
     and that is taqsH3blu (pron. tak say blue, Violet Hilbert) 
     who I carry high in my heart. I know that the generations yet 
     to come will be able to hear the knowledge that she has 
     passed on to me.
       We have a term in our language called gW3dZadad (pron. ha 
     ku sadad). To us it is a form of wealth. It has nothing to do 
     with monetary currency or material things. It's the wealth of 
     the knowledge of our culture. It's something that cannot be 
     bought. Something that many governments have tried to destroy 
     within the various nations of the world. They burned 
     libraries. Tortured and killed artists. But still we survive 
     and speak for those original ancestors of our cultures. I 
     want to thank the people who nominated me for this award. I 
     never expected any acknowledgment for what I do in life. I 
     merely look upon the things that I do as a personal 
     responsibility to keep what I have alive for future 
     generations.
       Thank You.
       At this time I would like a couple of my singers to come 
     up. We are going to sing a song from our people called P3t ti 
     scHalal (pron. put tee sha lal)

     Way La Hey La
     Wo oh ho oh hey

     Way La Hey La
     Wo oh ho oh hey

     Way La Hey La
     Wo oh ho oh hey

     Way La Hey La
     Wo oh ho oh hey

     P3t ti scHalal tulasab3d d3xW (pron. put tee sha lal tu la 
           saba du) (From the time of the first people down to 
           this moment)

     P3t ti scHalal tulasab3d d3xW (pron. put tee sha lal tu la 
           saba du) (From the time of the first people down to 
           this moment)

     P3t ti scHalal tulasab3d d3xW (pron. put tee sha lal tu la 
           saba du) (From the time of the first people down to 
           this moment)

     P3t ti scHalal tid shabu (pron. put tee sha lal tich shabu) 
           (From the time of our ancestors comes our story)

       We all live our own story. We all come from a different 
     walk of life. But right here, tonight and right here in these 
     next few days we will share the same story. For this moment 
     in time we are brothers and sisters.
       Thank you. [Applause]

                          ____________________