Wisdom provided services to thousands of individuals, families and communities within our local, regional and national community during 2016. We are recipients of the Riffle Award from Johnson Creek Watershed Council and the Force of Nature from The Intertwine Alliance for Equity and the Environment during 2016. If you are planning to give before year’s end, please consider supporting Wisdom’s programs with an end of year contribution.
We also welcome you to become a Friend of Wisdom of the Elders by providing automatic monthly donations. Link provided below:
Wisdom Workforce Development: Wisdom’s Native American conservation workforce development initiative is training Native American adults in environmental assessment and habitat restoration while completing service learning in Portland’s natural areas, including Lents, Johnson Creek, Springwater Corridor and the buffer below Zenger Farm.
Discovering Yidong Xinag: Wisdom’s Native youth leadership initiative provides fun out of school learning to Native youth while learning about the restoration of threatened and endangered traditional First Foods. This project has included Native Peer Mentorships since 2013 and Wisdom Gardens since 2012 and is a dynamic collaboration with local government agencies and environmental partners.
Climate and Native Wisdom Documentary Film Series: We are currently completing production of two films featuring Oregon tribes, their observations of our changing climate and rich cultural arts. Two “short docs” will be shared at our Film Festival in Portland and series of Film Screenings and Community Consultations in April and May 2017 in partnership with tribal communities throughout Oregon.
Discovering Our Story: Our health and wellness initiative, still available at our website, continues to help community members resolve mental health and addictions issues for generations of Native Americans, including Native students at Chemawa Indian School and Native inmates in Oregon’s prison system. Recordings continue to be used by faculty at Oregon State University, University of Oregon, Portland State University and University of Washington.
Northwest Indian Storytelling events: This is our eleventh year of providing Native American storytelling festivals and emerging tribal storytelling trainings to our community. Our next event is scheduled for February 17, 2017 and includes an evening of traditional stories featuring threatened and endangered First Foods and afternoon symposium on traditional First Foods. Two days of tribal storytelling will also be provided to 350 Native students at Chemawa Indian School, Kaiser, Oregon.
Wisdom Executive Transition Project: Wisdom has welcomed Deputy Director Dorothy Aguilera-Black Bear aboard who will transition into the Executive Director role as Rose High Bear retires in March 2017. Dorothy has decades of experience documenting the impact of Native American programs and will help to make Wisdom’s culturally tailored multimedia curriculum available to more and more Native communities. Rose will continue at Wisdom following retirement to support some Wisdom programs.
