WISDOM Vision: [top] WISDOM records and shares the wisdom of indigenous cultural values that will strengthen ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world. We record and preserve the oral history and cultural arts of exemplary tribal elders, storytellers, historians, environmentalists, song carriers, and artists. We provide this wisdom and knowledge from our website at www.wisdomoftheelders.org and in public programs and other projects in collaboration with like-minded organizations and institutions. |
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Photo by Anne Morin |
The Wisdom of the Elders community recognizes the importance of preserving indigenous knowledge, oral tradition and storytelling. Some of our volunteers learn about us from attending one of our annual events. Others find us on the web and listen to our radio programming online.
Wherever and however you discovered us, there seems to be a common thread. You were moved by the story. You felt a deep part of yourself reach out and meet us. And this connection has grown into a desire to explore our organization in a deeper way.
Behind the scenes, WISDOM isn’t just an organization. It’s a community. Our Board of Directors represents a diverse collection of tribal affiliations and other cultures. Our ages span three generations. We are here because we feel called to be here. We work together and share food together. We play together and pray together. We honor Creator and learn through our elders how to honor all of creation.
We’d like to offer you an invitation to become a volunteer and join us. Along with our radio programming, public storytelling events, and quarterly Friends of Wisdom of the Elders celebrations, we are accomplishing our mission of Native American cultural preservation, education and race reconciliation in several ways. We’d love to hear from you. Send us a message below and we can do great things together.
Sign up and we can do great things together!
Video: Meet The Volunteers |
Video: About Our Projects |
WISDOM Mission: [top] Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. (WISDOM) is an American Indian 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation located in Portland, Oregon. Incorporated in 1993 with a mission of cultural preservation, education and race reconciliation, we communicate these messages with our native people and to diverse public audiences via public radio and website production, educational materials, and public events, working in collaboration with diverse arts, cultural and educational organizations. |
WISDOM Statement of Purpose: [top] Research studies indicate that Native Americans participating in one’s culture and learning from one’s elders is a protection against substance abuse and other serious threats to today’s youth. WISDOM’s projects focus on preserving and sharing cultural heritage and wisdom of exemplary Native elders with younger generations. In addition, WISDOM’s mission of race reconciliation motivates us to share indigenous cultural values and other essential teachings with those of other cultures who recognize its value for building unity and harmony in families and communities. Therefore, instead of focusing upon injustice, we focus upon restoring principles of justice to ones’ life, family and community. We do this by sharing the wisdom of indigenous cultural values and spotlighting exemplary role models to serve as examples to younger generations. |
Volunteer Orientation [top] We are forming WISDOM’s 2009 Volunteer Organization. We’re asking interested individuals to contribute their efforts and offer to support WISDOM projects and public cultural events with some activities. Volunteers will be asked to fill out the volunteer sign up form on this website and send it to us. There may also be opportunities to attend WISDOM Tiosopaye events and learn how indigenous cultural values can strengthen one’s life - mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally. |
