Wisdom of the Elders, Inc
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc
A letter from the Executive Director – Teresa Montana
Join Wisdom of the elders for the 2025 Fall ITEK Internship
Wisdom of the Elders is proud to offer paid internship opportunities that give environmental education, job skills, and career pathway support to people who want to work in the environmental sector.
Join Wisdom of the elders for the 2025 Fall ITEK Internship
Wisdom of the Elders is proud to offer paid internship opportunities that give environmental education, job skills, and career pathway support to people who want to work in the environmental sector.
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
Embracing the Season’s Rebirth with Wisdom of the Elders
Hello, and a happy Spring to all of you. We hope this finds you all well, and thank you for checking in with Wisdom! We want to say thank you to our staff, who are all amazing. Wisdom appreciates your dedication and perseverance to our mission and projects as we...
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.
Celebrating Indigenous Excellence: The 2023 Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Awards
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. is thrilled to celebrate the 2023 Indigenous Leadership Awards, a celebration of outstanding Indigenous leaders who have dedicated themselves to the empowerment of their communities and the preservation of their ancestral lands. This year,...
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...
Made possible with support from these generous Partners, Funders, and sponsors
Made possible with support from these generous Partners, Funders, and sponsors
Notes from Wisdom’s Executive Director:
August updates coming soon… In the meantime, please read the March Newsletter
Hello to our supporters, community, and partners,
We hope you had a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones!
First and foremost, we would like to express our heartfelt Thanks to all who generously contributed to our Year-End Fund Raiser via GiveGuide!
Thank you to our first-time donors and longstanding partners for supporting our impactful work for our communities and the land we share. Your support is always significant in helping us pursue our mission. We could not do as much as we do without you!
As we prepare for a new season and the year ahead, we know our work is for all of us, not only for today but also for our children and future generations. Though this past year was challenging, we are stronger, more determined, and prepared to continue our mission.
We are building our programs to be even more impactful and are committed to helping create healthy land and natural spaces for our community.
We endeavor to instill this commitment and knowledge in our internship participants by offering classroom and hands-on field training.
As for our Multimedia program, we continue working on the Indigenous Archive Initiative. Which involves the digitization of 100K plus hours of analog recordings. We have partnered with BAVC (Bay Area Video Coalition) for our archival digitization. We will continue to work with Open Signal Community Media Center to facilitate our Multimedia Internship program.
We are also working towards implementing our new Indigenous Storytellers Apprenticeship and Culture Keepers Program events.
The primary mission of our Media Program is to continue recording and documenting the voices of our Indigenous elders, community educators, and tribes, helping them preserve their treasured knowledge. Please contact us if you know anyone in your family who may have contributed to the archives thus far. We are working to build and renew relationships with those who have already contributed to the archives that we are preserving for future generations.
Currently, Wisdom is partnering with OMSI to create the new Center for Tribal Nations on the Water Front. Part of the plan is to have an auditorium, classrooms, and, tentatively, a Multimedia Studio for production and presentation purposes, where Indigenous people can also utilize Wisdoms Professional Media services.
Thank you for staying in touch. Please get in touch with us if you or anyone you know would like to join our ITEK or MultiMedia Internships, which are offered in the Spring and Fall.
Wishing you all a joy-filled and prosperous year ahead,
With gratitude,