“I see STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) as technology without a soul,” reflected James Mason, Ph.D., Manager of Diversity Education and Cultural Competence for the Oregon Region Providence Health and Services.

Dr. Mason and his Assistant Francesco Copp visited last Friday morning with Wisdom’s Rose High Bear as they discussed his upcoming keynote at “An Evening with Wisdom of the Elders” on Friday evening, June 20.

The partnership between Providence Health and Services and Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. has developed over the past year and continues to blossom. Dr. Mason, who was introduced to Wisdom’s newest initiative, Discovering Yidong Xinag, in January, will present a stirring keynote at Wisdom’s fundraiser. He is a national leader in equity and cultural competence policy, also serving as Senior Project Consultant for Georgetown University’s National Center on Cultural Competence. We spent a few minutes talking about the upcoming Father’s Day weekend, and the need for today’s younger generations to have rich father relationships within their families and communities. Dr. Mason shared his commitment to all of his community’s sons and daughters, especially those who have no father in their nuclear families. Because of ancestral trauma, mental health and addictions issues have impacted Native families, leaving some without a healthy supportive family. This causes deep pain that doesn’t easily heal as they grow into adulthood.

This vital element needs to be restored in the lives of Portland-area Native youth. For thousands of years, Native people exemplified the teaching “From Generation to Generation” so indigenous ancestors’ cultural values and way of life would be imparted by the elders to enrich younger and future generations.  This is being restored within today’s local Portland-area families as a result of numerous collaborations between Native organizations and educational institutions, including Wisdom.

Discovering Yidong Xinag, previously called The Wisdom Project, is the Native youth leadership initiative developed by Wisdom for Native American youth and families in the Portland area. This past decade, Wisdom has developed a culturally tailored multimedia learning model that is compatible with Native learning styles. We produced Discovering Our Story for Native American health and wellness and are currently developing  Discovering Yidong Xinag with its Summer Field Science Camps for Native youth and families, Community Film Screenings, and student curriculum that provides the indigenous perspective on environmental and climate issues for restoring traditional First Foods.

Wisdom’s series of four seasons academic and peer mentoring activities is designed to engage Native youth in STEAM. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, ARTS (including Traditional Ecological Knowledge), and math.  Integrating Native elders’ astute observations of nature plus their rich oral history and cultural arts has been shown to make Western science topics more engaging to Native youth.  It strengthens their academic achievement and career pathway planning, and empowers them to pursue opportunities in STEM and other fields.

Join us at “An Evening with Wisdom of the Elders” when Dr. Mason discusses this initiative during his keynote. The event will be held at 6:30 pm Friday evening, June 20 at Melody Ballroom (615 SE Alder Street, Portland, OR 97214).

Tickets for this Summer Solstice celebration can be purchased at https://wisdomoftheelders.org/aneveningwithwisdom/ or you can call us at (503) 775-4014 or e-mail daniel@wisdomoftheelders.org.