Northwest Indian Storytellers Association
The Winter Story Returns
A three-day gathering in Portland, November 2027, where master storytellers hand the stories to the next generation of Native storytellers.
Join NISA to share your stories, apprentice with master storytellers, or hear first about our events.
Join NISA
Storytellers, apprentices and supporters welcome.
Northwest Indian Storytellers Association, filmed and edited by Wisdom's Multimedia staff
See NISA in action
Help Bring the Winter Story Home
For years, NISA festivals filled Portland with stories, songs and community. Your gift funds Elder honoraria, apprentice stipends, traditional first foods, and the gathering itself, so these living traditions reach the next generation.
Traditional Indigenous Storyteller Victor Mandan
Where it begins
Listening Through the Night
This project safeguards traditional oral storytelling by mentoring the next generation of Native storytellers. It is rooted in the sacred tradition of The Winter Story, where listening through the night distinguished future tradition-bearers.
Our three-day convening answers a critical need: passing down the cultural art of storytelling, from master to apprentice, before it is lost.
2026 to 2027 season
Upcoming NISA Events
Four gatherings leading to the November 2027 Winter Story convening.
Sat, December 5, 2026
Storytellers Night
Gather by the fire, listen, remember. Drum circle, four traditional storytellers, food and drinks. 4:00 to 6:00 PM at Great Spirit United Methodist Church.
See event details →
March 2027
Spring Gathering
A NISA storytelling event. Date and location coming soon.
June 2027
Summer Gathering
A NISA storytelling event. Date and location coming soon.
November 2027
The Winter Story
Our three-day convening, ending with the Handing Over of the Story.
Calling all storytellers. We're reaching out to legacy storytellers and welcoming new voices. Are you a storyteller, or want to become one?
November 2027
Three Days of Story
From ceremony to the Handing Over of the Story.
Day One
Opening Ceremony
The gathering opens with ceremony and master storytellers on stage.
Day Two
Master Classes
Apprentices train in master classes on hands, movements of nature, vocal sound, and cultural delivery, then join a public storytelling night.
Day Three
Handing Over of the Story
A talking circle, then a showcase where apprentices share the stories they have mastered.
NISA through the years
Our Gatherings
Moments from the 2005 Northwest Indian Storytellers Association festival: storytellers, drummers, families, and a lot of good food.
Meet an apprentice
Teress Lum Alexis
Apprentice storyteller Teress Lum Alexis shows what this gathering is about: the stories passing from master to apprentice, then out to the community.
At the November 2027 gathering, apprentices like Teress will train with master storytellers and share the stories they have mastered at the Handing Over of the Story.
Teress Lum Alexis, Storytelling Apprentice
A living practice
From Preservation to Performance
Our past gatherings presented master storytellers at lecterns with stationary mics. This time, we will formally train the next generation. Close to 12 storytellers, master storytellers and the apprentices they mentor, will work together on hands, movements of nature, vocal sound, and cultural delivery. Apprentices then prove that learning at the Handing Over of the Story, a clear marker of lineage continuity.
We are also growing the art form itself. We plan to work with theater practitioners, including Portland Center Stage and Artists Repertory Theatre, to bring staging and sound support to our storytellers for the first time. Producer KJ Moore brings more than 20 years in the performing arts to this work. The goal is a true performance space where storytellers can fully inhabit their stories and audiences are carried into them.
5,000+
people joined past gatherings over three days
~12
storytellers, masters and apprentices together
1970s
when Wisdom's media archive began. The captioned video joins it.
In their words
What Storytellers Told Us
Reflections from past NISA participants.
“Our stories are very important! They tell us where we came from and who we are as Indigenous people. They tell us that we are still here.”
Participant, NISA Emerging Tribal Storytellers Workshop
“I feel today more of a storyteller than I have ever felt. We all have stories.”
Participant, NISA Emerging Tribal Storytellers Workshop
“The master tellers were very encouraging and inspiring because they helped me to believe in myself.”
Participant, NISA Emerging Tribal Storytellers Workshop
“I really resonated to the message that I am an elder in training.”
Participant, NISA Emerging Tribal Storytellers Workshop
Our storytellers
Voices of the Gathering
Master storytellers from past Wisdom of the Elders gatherings, carrying stories from nations across Turtle Island.
Open to all
A Portland Tradition Returns
This gathering returns a beloved Portland tradition after at least five years away. Past events drew upwards of 5,000 people over three days, and we expect about 1,000 this time. The public storytelling night and the Handing Over of the Story are open to all, inviting Native and non-Native Portlanders to listen, learn, and celebrate together.
The deepest impact is continuity. Apprentices train with master storytellers, then perform the stories they have mastered before the community. Each one leaves ready to carry these living oral traditions forward, keeping Native storytelling present in Portland for generations.
Welcoming Everyone
✓ ADA-accessible spaces
✓ ASL interpreters at public programs
✓ Captioned video for audiences online
Partners interested in hosting include the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, Literary Arts, Zenger Farms, and Portland State University.
Be part of the story
Join the Northwest Indian Storytellers Association
Few places truly center Native voices. Master storytellers, emerging storytellers, and anyone who wants to learn their tribe's stories are welcome. Supporters help share these traditions and bring diverse tribal perspectives to the heart of the Pacific Northwest.
Watch more
More from Wisdom's Multimedia Team
All videos are filmed and edited by Wisdom's Multimedia staff.
About NISA
Our Story Since 2005
NISA was formed in 2005 to encourage, preserve and strengthen traditional storytelling among tribes and urban Indian communities in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. In the spirit of race reconciliation, NISA shares tribal cultural arts with the entire regional community at our storytelling festivals.
You don't have to be a master storyteller to join NISA. Emerging tribal storytellers and those who would like to start learning their tribe's stories are also welcome. We welcome Washington, Oregon, and Idaho tribal members, along with the region's urban Indian storytellers from other nations around Turtle Island.
We are also asking Northwest tribes to appoint a traditional storyteller to serve on the NISA Advisory Council as their tribe's representative, and, where funds are available, to sponsor them to join us at the gathering.
Storyteller Ed Edmo at a NISA gathering
Northwest Indian Storyteller Association
Archive of past events
Turtle Island Storyteller Hollyanna Pinkham
How We Got the Fringe on the Heel of Our Moccasins (Speaks in Language) Good morning. My name is Sound of a Woman Working, and I'm also called Cougar Tracks. I am Yakama, Nez Perce, Cayuse, Umatilla, and Grand Ronde. I am considered a storyteller by my people and my...