SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. — Jill La Pointe is carrying forward the legacy of her late grandmother, Vi Hilbert, one of the most influential champions of the Lushootseed language.
“She wanted everybody that she encountered to be able to hear it and speak the Lushootseed language,” La Pointe said.
Hilbert earned international recognition for her lifelong work preserving and revitalizing Lushootseed, and today, La Pointe continues that mission. Among Hilbert’s longtime collaborators was linguist Dr. Thom Hess, whose work helped document and preserve the language for future generations.
La Pointe serves as Executive Director of the Indigenous Peoples Institute at Seattle University, where she leads efforts focused on Indigenous language preservation and cultural revitalization. She is also president of Lushootseed Research, an organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the language.
Lushootseed, written as dxʷləšucid in the International Phonetic Alphabet, is the ancestral language of many Indigenous communities throughout Western Washington, stretching from the Skagit River south to the Nisqually Basin and from the Cascade Mountains to the Salish Sea.
La Pointe’s ancestral name is tsisqʷux̌ʷał. She is Upper Skagit (sqaǰətəbs) and also a descendant of the Nooksack Tribe.
KIRO 7 traveled to Skagit County to meet La Pointe and learn the fundamentals of Lushootseed.
“We’re right on the Skagit River,” she said. “My ancestors have been here forever. Whenever I come over that hill and look down at Skagit County, I know I’m home. My spirit, my soul, knows I’m home.”
As we walked through the landscape that inspired the language, La Pointe shared Lushootseed names for native plants, including Oregon grape (qʷebqʷəbčac), salal (t̓aqaʔac), and western red cedar (x̌əpayʔac). The word for saltwater or ocean, x̌ʷəlc, echoes the sound of waves washing onto the shore.
She also explained how many Lushootseed words reflect connections found in nature.
“Here we have dᶻətgʷad, salmonberry,” La Pointe said. “We can always identify the salmonberry by its three leaves that grow together on a single stem, and when you pull back the middle leaf you get yuʔyubəc, a butterfly. Whenever we saw the yuʔyubəc, it signaled to the people that yubəc, king salmon, were running in the streams.”
The conversation also turned to the painful history faced by Indigenous peoples. Reflecting on her ancestors, the First People (dᶻixʷ ʔaʔaciłtalbixʷ), La Pointe spoke of the devastating impact of disease following European settlement.
“More than 90% of our culture, our people, our population was wiped out through disease, and our language almost disappeared along with them,” she said. “If it were to disappear, it would be a great tragedy. It’s unimaginable. When you travel to this land, it’s important, vitally important, to know the language of this land, Lushootseed.”
Yet her message was ultimately one of connection and respect.
“In our language, we use the term siʔab, which means an honorable person,” La Pointe said. “My elders always talked about the importance of referring to all people as siʔab. We’re all noble people. We’re all honorable.”
She also described a Coast Salish tradition of raising both hands to acknowledge an important truth or expression of gratitude.
“Rather than saying goodbye, we say huy. It means, ‘Until we meet again.’ And when we raise our hands, we’re saying, ‘Thank you. I love you. I care about you. You’re important. We welcome you.”
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