Wisdom of the Elders, Inc
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc
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.
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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, 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.