Wisdom of the Elders, Inc
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc
A letter from the Executive Director – Teresa Montana
The 2024 Willamette Week's Give!Guide is Live!
We’re thrilled to announce that Willamette Week’s 2024 Give!Guide is officially in full swing, and we are beyond grateful to be a part of this fantastic community-driven initiative. The Give!Guide is an amazing opportunity to support our mission, and every donation counts—no matter the size.
The 2024 Willamette Week's Give!Guide is Live!
We’re thrilled to announce that Willamette Week’s 2024 Give!Guide is officially in full swing, and we are beyond grateful to be a part of this fantastic community-driven initiative. The Give!Guide is an amazing opportunity to support our mission, and every donation counts—no matter the size.
Indigenous Archive Initiative
Indigenous Archive Initiative
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.
Don Motanic Receives the 2023 Earle R. Wilcox Award
In the heartfelt 2023 Earle R. Wilcox Award Acceptance video, Donald (Don) Motanic, a distinguished figure in the Native American community, and Wisdom of the Elders Board President, radiates humility and gratitude as he receives this prestigious honor. Having served...
Native Gathering Garden Tending Party and Native Plant Giveaway
Join in on the fun with Native Gathering Garden Saturday, April 29th, 10 AM –3 PM 5810 NE 72nd Ave., Portland, OR 97220. Gain experience learning about and giving native plants to the Indigenous community. There will be tools and refreshments provided while supplies...
Wisdom graciously receives First Nations Development Institute Award to assist with Growth
The First Nations Development Institute (FNDI) has awarded a grant to Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. under the Nourishing Native Foods and Health Initiative made possible through generous support from the Northwest Area Foundation and Agua Fund. This grant will help...
Congratulations to the 2022 Wisdom Workforce Development Interns
Wisdom is very proud of you all, and honored to be a part of your growth. Wisdom wants to encourage you to stay connected and active in this growing dynamic community. Great Spirit United Methodist Church, Nellie Stearns and Allen Buck Friends of Tryon Creek, Gabe...
Wisdom receives the 2022 Environment and Sustainability Impact Award from Ninety-Nine Girlfriends
Over the last few months Wisdom has been hard at work writing a grant proposal for the 2022 Impact award which is provided by Ninety-nine girlfriends. Their organization makes annual, large, impactful grants in the Portland Metro/SW Washington region. They fund in...
Join us at the Portland Indigenous Marketplace
Join us for the Portland Indigenous Marketplace. An in-person Indigenous Marketplaces event for Spring/Summer 2022, the marketplace will be held at 432 NE 74th ave Portland, OR 97213 Portland Indigenous Marketplace supports indigenous artists and entrepreneurs by...
Made possible with support from these generous Partners, Funders, and sponsors
Notes from Wisdom’s Executive Director
Hello friends, families, colleagues, and partners,
We appreciate you stopping by to check-in.
First and foremost, we want to send out a thank you to all of you who have been working with us to get through a tough spot this year.
Your compassion and grace are so very heartwarming. To be sure, as a team, we do share our thoughts and express our gratitude for each of you as we keep moving forward.
I have to say I am deeply grateful for our team! Here at Wisdom, we hold so much regard for each other and this helps us to stay strong during challenging times.
Everyone brings all their talents and passion to the forefront and are supportive of each other in so many ways. Together, we are fully committed to the success of all of our programs.
To Wisdom partners, you all are such a joy to work with. You have expressed to us that you are here to help accomplish our shared goals. Our staff in turn frequently say how much they enjoy working alongside you all. Thank you for standing with us as we look to the coming years to accomplish the good work for our shared communities
A quick update for our Multi-Media team and our Archive Project.
We have had a portion of our archived films digitized. We will keep working to have them all done, which will take quite some time as there are at least 100k hours of footage to be taken care of.
**This means a great deal of fundraising too! So if any of you have resources you are aware of, please let us know.***
In the meantime, we are planning to hold an event this month to review our mission, what we have already done, and what we will be accomplishing in the coming year.
Finally, we want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has supported Wisdom over the years and to those of you who are just learning about our programs and have made contributions to help support our projects.
With gratitude and appreciation, we wish you all a joy-filled holiday and a prosperous New Year.
With gratitude,