Wisdom of the Elders, Inc
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc
Our Mission
Wisdom records, preserves, and shares oral history, cultural arts, language concepts, and traditional ecological knowledge of exemplary Native American elders, storytellers, and scientists in collaboration with diverse institutions, agencies, and organizations. Our vision: Native American cultural sustainability, multimedia education, and cultural reconciliation.
Wisdom Newsletter
Whispers of Winter Wisdom: Embracing the Season’s Serenity with Wisdom of the Elders
Greetings, Hello, Friends of Wisdom, We are always delighted to share with you the programs and events we are engaged in. Our staff has many opportunities to be in the field and at the table with community members and our partners to make plans and strategize on how...
Native Wisdom Documentary Film Update
Wisdom’s multimedia team is continuing its work on an educational film shared with the forestry service, and also filming a program that features a variety of Grandmothers stories.
Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge: An Internship program
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. is pleased to announce the (ITEK Program) Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge. This program is designed for interns and focuses on traditional ecological knowledge passed down from generations.
Wisdom Projects, Community Action, & Events
Read more about what Wisdom of the Elders is doing in the community.
Charting New Horizons: Wisdom of the Elders Multimedia Interns Illuminate Community
In late March, a fresh wave of interns swept into Open Signal, eager to dive into the world of multimedia production. With classes in Studio Production, Cinematography, and hands-on camera training, they eagerly got their hands on the equipment and started to produce...
Sharing Big News & Thank You: Highlights from the Indigenous Marketplace Newsletter
Posted on April 30, 2024 We are still buzzing with excitement from last Saturday's Indigenous gala—the FIRST-ever big fundraiser event for the Indigenous marketplace organization—and what a resounding success it was! A heartfelt THANK YOU to every one of you who...
Save the Redwoods League, the Yurok Tribe, and Park Partners Sign Historic Agreement to Return Tribal Land
Orick, CA (March 19, 2024) — Today the Yurok Tribe, Save the Redwoods League, National Park Service and California State Parks signed a landmark memorandum of understanding, a historic first step toward transferring ‘O Rew, a 125-acre ecologically and culturally...
December’s Symphony of Impactful Initiatives, Glowing Recognitions, and Thoughtful Gifts
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. Wins REI Cooperative Action Fund Award Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. is thrilled to announce that it has been honored with an award from the generous REI Cooperative Action Fund. This recognition is a testament to our commitment to preserving...
Harvesting Wisdom: Celebrating 2023 Indigenous Peoples’ Day and the Fall Season
Warm Greetings Friends of Wisdom, As we embrace the vibrant colors of autumn and the changing of seasons in our Fall 2023 newsletter, we also pause to reflect on the significance of Indigenous Peoples' Day. This day serves as a reminder of our commitment to honoring...
Celebrating Indigenous Excellence: The 2023 Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Awards
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. is thrilled to celebrate the 2023 Indigenous Leadership Awards, a celebration of outstanding Indigenous leaders who have dedicated themselves to the empowerment of their communities and the preservation of their ancestral lands. This year,...
Made possible with support from these generous Partners, Funders, and sponsors
Notes from Wisdom’s Executive Director
Hello, and a happy Spring to all of you.
I hope this finds you all well, and thank you for checking in with Wisdom!
I want to say thank you to our staff, who are all amazing.
I appreciate your dedication and perseverance to our mission and projects as we continue to move forward.
To our Board, thank you for standing for Wisdom while helping to expand our outreach through sharing our visions and goals with your professional and community partners, and families.
We work closely with each team member and Board member to make sure we build on our mission while expanding our vision for the future and continuing to increase our programs and staff.
I would like to direct your attention to our Multimedia Archives Project.
As all of the 30 years of the film is on formats such as 8mm, reel-to-reel, or VHS,
we sent out, and have recently received back, the first of our Digitized footage.
*We are excited to finally be able to get every single item digitized and returned to the families and Tribes from which all of these stories came. We will honor those agreements.
As we go through each of the films &/or recordings to identify participants, we will be reaching out for assistance in identifying the people who contributed to them. In time, we will be reaching back out to inquire about future presentations and opportunities for community engagements to help preserve and share the stories, histories, and Indigenous knowledge as is appropriate.
Furthermore, we have now renewed our partnership with OpenSignal for our Multimedia program internships (as we had to discontinue due to the onset of COVID-19).
Our ITEK internships are going great as well! So wonderful to see the engagement and dedication of our students. We are planning to increase our offerings by adding more weeks for classes and hands-on fieldwork to both internships.
Please be sure to check out our paid internships.
You can find out more information and whom to contact from the ITEK and Multimedia sites.
We are looking to the future with great excitement. Please feel free to contact us and let’s see how we can work together for a greater future for our communities and for our shared environments.