Bill Tsi’li’xw James, who died on June 1 at age 75, was appointed hereditary Chief of the Lummi Nation in 2010 for his life-long efforts to learn Lummi history, language, and tradition and teach it to young tribal members. 

Bill championed his people's culture and way of life in so many ways--as a Master Weaver, as a powerful advocate and activist to save the southern resident orcas and protect the natural environment, and as a linguistic proponent of perpetuating the ancient language of the Lummi people.

For decades during the early 20th century, many Lummi young people were sent to boarding schools, where speaking their native tongue was illegal. The language began to fade, to the point where teaching it to younger generations became next to impossible. 

In an effort to reverse this trend, Bill James created a usable phonetic alphabet and wrote a Lummi dictionary. He began a program of teaching the language to young members of the tribe. 

Money raised in this GoFundMe campaign will go into a Bill James memorial fund dedicated to the Lummi language educational program. Thank you for helping us reach our goal by the end of June!

(I am organizing this fundraiser in collaboration with Angela Anderson.)