Wisdom of the Elders, Inc

Wisdom of the Elders, Inc

Join the Willamette Week Give!Guide for a Season of Giving: Support Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. as We Countdown to Year-End Donations!

Supporting an Indigenous-led organization like Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. is a powerful way to champion the preservation and dissemination of traditional ecological knowledge within Indigenous communities.

WW Give!Guide

Join the Willamette Week Give!Guide for a Season of Giving: Support Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. as We Countdown to Year-End Donations!

Supporting an Indigenous-led organization like Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. is a powerful way to champion the preservation and dissemination of traditional ecological knowledge within Indigenous communities.

WW Give!Guide

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

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 of the Elders, Inc - Logo 2022

Wisdom Projects, Community Action, & Events

Read more about what Wisdom of the Elders is doing in the community.

Made possible with support from these generous Partners, Funders, and sponsors

The Collins Foundation
First Nations Development Institute
Ecotrust
Native Arts & Cultures Foundation
national Endowment for the Arts
East Portland Action Plan
Zenger Farm
Portland Parks & Recreation
sauvi-island-center
Johnson Creek Water Shed
Open Signal
Leach Botanical Garden
East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District
MHCRC Community Grant
ninety-nine girlfriends
Oregon Metro
Meyer Memorial Trust
Big Green DAO
 Willamette Week Give Guide

Notes from Wisdom’s Executive Director

Hello Partners and Colleagues,

I would like to wish you all a very happy Fall season.
We are delighted to see the support and new connections with our shared communities.

Wisdom has been quite busy with gathering and converting our archived footage into digital formats. These will enable us to share all of the stories and footage back to families, tribes, and the greater community.

This has been an exciting process indeed! We will keep you posted as we work towards reinstating our Film Festivals and begin airing some on OPB and through OpenSignal and NPR.

We have had some great ITEK Internships this year. Some of our graduates have been able to move on to jobs while others are to pursue their next endeavors for further training or continuing higher education.

We have hired a graduate from the Internship onto our LLC. Crew! We always are so proud of their accomplishments and are happy to help them to explore more opportunities. They regularly share updates with us, detailing their achievements and outlining the upcoming milestones on their agenda. It’s like a constant flow of progress and ambition, keeping everyone in the loop about what they’ve accomplished and what exciting challenges lie ahead.

Just knowing the trees are being planted, the environment is being made healthier with partner organizations such as all of those connected with Metro and BES as well as the First Foods that are being restored and grown with our partner organizations, such as Zenger Farms.

Please be sure to check out our fundraising efforts! Thank you for being an important part of our family.

My best regards and appreciation,

- Teresa Montana,

Executive Director