Position Available at Wisdom of the Elders, Inc.

Discovering Yidong Xinag
Educator Position Description

Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. (Wisdom) is recruiting a Discovering Yidong Xinag* Educator and Facilitator. Discovering Yidong Xinag (*means “the old wisdom” in Athabascan) is Wisdom’s Native American youth leadership initiative. This will be our fifth year of providing climate and environmental education activities in the classroom and during out-of-school service learning in the Portland area and now we are partnering with Oregon tribes to provide the DYX Educational Toolkit. This program has been designed to enrich STEAM learning for low-income Native youth and other youth of color; engage them in STEAM educational and career pathway planning, and strengthen Native resiliency including cultural identity and self-esteem.

Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. (Wisdom) currently has an opening for a Native Youth Development Specialist. The specialist will serve as a classroom educator with a team of three providing 350 high school students at Chemawa Indian School with leadership skills and health and wellness support. Chemawa Indian School is located in Salem, Oregon, 40 miles south of Portland, and is the oldest Indian boarding school west of the Mississippi River.

To strengthen students’ educational engagement and achievement, Wisdom uses its own culturally-tailored multimedia curriculum. Lesson plans are compatible with Alaskan Native / American Indian learning styles and include health and wellness; environmental and climate; cultural arts; and multimedia learning materials. This is a dynamic collaboration between several organizational partners including Indian Health Service at Chemawa Indian School, Project Venture, Synergo, Inc., and Wisdom of the Elders.

Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. (Wisdom) is a Native American non-profit corporation with a vision of cultural and environmental sustainability, multimedia education, and race reconciliation. Our mission: Wisdom records, preserves, and shares oral history, cultural arts, language concepts, and indigenous science of exemplary Native American elders and scientists in collaboration with environmental organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies.

 

Wisdom Workforce Development
Educator Position Description

We are seeking an educator with a background in environmental sciences and with experience working with Native American communities and organizations. This position requires knowledge and experience in natural resource management, effective communication with local partners, and an understanding of traditional ecological knowledge. They will join Wisdom’s Project Team to plan and support three-month training twice a year to cohorts of ten adult Native interns. Training includes classroom education in environmental assessment and habitat restoration using Wisdom’s culturally-tailored multimedia curriculum that integrates traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) with Western science. They will also support service-learning activities in local natural areas.

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