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 was a success!

We’re thrilled to announce that Willamette Week’s 2024 Give!Guide turned out wonderfully thanks to all of your. 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. Thank You Friends of Wisdom.

Wisdom of the Elders, Inc

The 2024 Willamette Week's Give!Guide was a success!

We’re thrilled to announce that Willamette Week’s 2024 Give!Guide turned out wonderfully thanks to all of your. 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. Thank You Friends of Wisdom.

Wisdom of the Elders, Inc

Indigenous Archive Initiative

The Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. Indigenous Archive Initiative is a monumental endeavor to preserve and share the rich cultural heritage and wisdom of Indigenous communities. By digitizing and organizing over two decades of recorded video footage, we are creating an accessible online interactive database. Please support our mission by donating to our fund today.
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc

Indigenous Archive Initiative

The Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. Indigenous Archive Initiative is a monumental endeavor to preserve and share the rich cultural heritage and wisdom of Indigenous communities. By digitizing and organizing over two decades of recorded video footage, we are creating an accessible online interactive database. Please support our mission by donating to our fund today.
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc

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 2024 Horizontal

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
 Willamette Week Give Guide
Open Signal
Leach Botanical Garden
Johnson Creek Watershed Council Partner
MHCRC Community Grant
ninety-nine girlfriends
Oregon Metro
Meyer Memorial Trust
Big Green DAO
East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District
Oregon Community Foundation - 2025 Funders and Partners

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

Notes from Wisdom’s Executive Director:

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,

- Teresa Montana,

Executive Director