Julia Butterfly Hill - Early Life

Early Life

Hill's father was a traveling preacher and went town to town, bringing his family with him. Until she was about ten years old, Hill lived in a 32-foot (9.8 m) camper with her father, Dan, mother, Kathy and two brothers, Mike and Dan. Julia is the middle child. While traveling with her family, Hill would often explore rivers by campgrounds. When Hill was seven years old, she and her family were taking a hike one day and a butterfly landed on her finger and stayed with her the entire time. From that day on, her nickname became "Butterfly." She decided to use that as her nickname for the rest of her life.

When Hill was in middle school, her family stopped travelling and settled in Jonesboro, Arkansas. In August 1996, at age 22, Hill suffered a near-fatal car crash. At the time, Hill was acting as designated driver for a friend who had been drinking. Her friend's car was hit from behind by a drunk driver. The steering wheel of the car penetrated her skull; it took almost a year of intensive therapy before she regained the ability to speak and walk normally.

As I recovered, I realized that my whole life had been out of balance...I had graduated high school at 16, and had been working nonstop since then, first as a waitress, then as a restaurant manager. I had been obsessed by my career, success and material things. The crash woke me up to the importance of the moment, and doing whatever I could to make a positive impact on the future.

Hill embarked on a spiritual quest afterwards, leading her to the environmental cause opposed to the destruction of the redwood forests in Humboldt County, California. "The steering wheel in my head, both figuratively and literally, steered me in a new direction in my life," Hill says.