The Northwest Indian Storytelling Association’s (NISA) 2013 Festival and Emerging Tribal Storytellers Workshops celebrated our eighth season of tribal storytelling in the Pacific Northwest. With friends and relatives joining us from all over the region, generations came together to listen to and learn from one another, the craft of traditional storytelling woven into each day.
This year’s festival featured some of the Northwest’s most gifted tribal tellers, including Roger Fernandes (Lower Elwah S’Klallam) who captivates with vivid and colorful tales; Elaine Grinnell (Jamestown S’Klallam) whose sense of humor lights up the room; Esther Stutzman (Komemma Kalapuya/Coos) who generously shares stories from Oregon’s Willamette Valley; and Toby Joseph (Apache/Ute) whose stories and music touch the heart. Traditional drumming and singing, and opening prayer and commentary by treasured Native elders opened the events. A silent auction of Native American arts and crafts was also held to benefit the Northwest Indian Storytellers Association (NISA). The Northwest Indian Storytellers Association (NISA) was formed in 2005 to encourage, preserve and strengthen traditional storytelling among tribes in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, and to share tribal oral cultural arts with our entire regional community. Sponsors of NISA include Northwest Indian College (NWIC), Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA), Portland Community College Native Nations, Portland Art Museum Native American Art Council, KBOO Community Radio 90.7 FM, Northwest Indian Storytellers Association (NISA), and Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. Funding provided by National Endowment for the Arts, and Multnomah County Cultural Coalition.
