TW8 - The Voice of Our Living Ancestors

The irony of the title of this album is that both storytellers have passed.  In Indian country this is often called “taking the long walk”.  I kept this title because part of my walk in life is now to keep these leaders’ voices alive.  "If we are still telling the story's of a loved one's life, we keep them alive internally."
 
When I recorded this album, I was given very specific instructions.  "This album is for teaching the original way of the Northwest Native."  It was meant to be listened to deeply with out any interruptions; meant to be listened to numerous times so that the teachings can come and sit within you as layers of lessons taught.  “It is so important to truly know how to listen,” Vi Hilbert instructed on the day of this recording.
 
This album features Bruce Miller from Skokomish sharing several of the principles of Native life that stand tallest to me in my thirty years of living with and traveling through the lives of my dearest Native families.  He tells a story titled “The Legend of (Sla hal)”,  which is told through metaphor.  Bruce actually entered a slightly altered state of consciousness as he shared it with Vi Hilbert and myself inside his traditional Puget Sound ceremonial Longhouse.
 
This album was specifically designed to teach future Native Youth as well as being meaningful to all listeners. 
An excellent example of living in balance instead of consuming and destroying the beauty in this life.
 
“We have been given this life as a gift from the creator of all life!”  - Vi Hilbert 2006