The planning for our annual fund raising dinner event is well underway and we are proud to announce that Roger Fernandes will be our keynote speaker as well as our featured artist for “An Evening with Wisdom” for our fifth annual event Friday evening, June 10, 2016 in Portland OR.

Roger Fernandes is a member of the Lower Elwha Band of the S’Klallam Indians from the Port Angeles, Washington, area. He describes himself as an urban Indian since his mother, Violet Charles, moved to the city of Seattle where he was born in 1951. He is from a family of four brothers who are all active doing various cultural things like singing, basket making, artwork, and storytelling. Roger has been storytelling for about eight years. The stories he started with were simple legends. Over the years, he moved into telling myths, creation stories, flood stories, and hero stories. In sharing these types of stories Roger approaches storytelling as a way for Native people to teach non-Natives about the aspects of their culture that go beyond food, shelter, and clothing. These stories actually define the culture of the tellers. In the course of learning Native American stories, Roger has integrated stories he has learned from other cultures around the world like Mexico, Africa and Asia. All stories speak the same human language and teach the same lessons.

As a tribal historian, Roger offers a comprehensive multimedia presentation on the art of the Coast Salish people, including slides showing the art of the Salish people and provides interpretation for how their art is relevant to historical events. He has accumulated artifacts and artwork to show how the Native people of this area created their designs, art, basketry, and carving. Fernandes believes art, music, and stories reflect the culture and the culture reflects the environment. Stories lead to a spiritual and emotional understanding on how to live in the world. Roger is involved in art organizations and initiatives by and for Native American artists. He’s the Executive Director of South Wind Native Arts and Education Foundation, a small grass roots non-profit and serves on the Arts Advisory Committee for the Potlatch Fund. He has recorded a CD, “Teachings of the First People,” that shares several of the stories he tells in his performances. He won a Folk Life award from the Washington Arts Commission for his work in teaching about Coast Salish art. He has a degree in Native American Studies from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

Roger does a lot of work in schools and tailors his presentations to youth. Children understand stories at one level and so he gives them access to stories that are easy to interpret. Native people call their stories “the teachings” and are the fundamental way of teaching children. He likes them to be involved in the interpretive process. Elders have another level of understanding and bring wisdom and knowledge to any discussion, so Fernandes incorporates cross-generational experiences in storytelling. His audiences include community groups such as schools, libraries, parks departments, senior centers, and open forum presentations geared toward general audiences. For more information about Roger, visit his website, Turtle Island Storytellers. Roger can be contacted directly at 425-868-7503 or rbfernandes@juno.com.