In March 2005 Upper Skagit elder Vi Hilbert donated her extensive personal research collection of recordings and manuscripts to the University of Washington, where she taught Lushootseed language and literature from 1972-1987. The manuscript collection is housed in the U.W. Libraries’ Special Collections, and the audio and video recordings reside in the U.W. Ethnomusicology Archives. In addition to her own recordings of local elders, the collection includes recordings made between the 1950s and 2005 by linguists, anthropologists, and other collectors of the local language and song traditions. 

The University of Washington is honored to be the repository of this unique and important collection.  In entrusting her archive to us, Vi Hilbert left us with a tremendous responsibility: to provide an environment where her recordings will be safe and well-cared for in perpetuity and where they will be accessible for research and study now and preserved for future generations.

For more information about the University of Washington Vi Hilbert Collection:

Manuscripts – View the finding aid and contact Special Collections for more information.
Recordings - View the finding aids and contact the UW Ethnomusicology Archives for more information. 

Vi taqʷšəblu Hilbert with Isadore pətius Tom 
Photo courtesy of Jill La Pointe