Wisdom expanded the Discovering Yidong Xinag Educational Toolkit and will provide it early in 2018 starting with a pilot being planned with an Oregon tribe. This culturally-tailored multimedia curriculum features film clips from the Native Wisdom Documentary Film Series with indigenous science, traditional ecological knowledge and cultural arts. These cultural elements are being integrated into environmental science lesson plans and includes fun service learning activities in local natural areas. We are aligning materials to Next Generation Science Standards and providing professional development trainings for educators. This expansion has been funded by the generosity of Spirit Mountain Community Fund, James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, Running Strong for American Indian Youth, Charlotte Martin Foundation and Nike N-7.We are now seeking funding for further expansion of this educational initiative designed to strengthen educational engagement and academic achievement of Native American and other low-income students and improve social and emotional learning.

 

(Two shots from our production of the film Native Wisdom People of the Oregon Coast, capturing The Coquille Tribe Lamprey Float on the South Coquille River and the gathering of tea leaves.)

Six Film Screenings and Community Consultations were held during Native American Heritage Month. This included Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the State Capitol in Salem, Oregon City Public Library and Intel. These were funded by Oregon Cultural Trust, Oregon Arts Commission, Coquille Indian Foundation and the Regional Arts and Culture Council. Partners included OMSI, Oregon Department of Human Services, Oregon Department of Indian Education, Oregon Youth Authority, Oregon City Public Library and the Native American network at Intel. Thank you to all that came out to make them a success!

>>>> October 2017 >>>>

Gerry RainingBird joined the Wisdom family in October when he came aboard as Wisdom’s new Executive Director while co-founder Rose High Bear transitioned to a role as Senior Consultant and Executive Producer. Wisdom’s Executive Transition project has been funded by Meyer Memorial Trust, The Collins Foundation and NoVo Foundation.

Wisdom staff took a group of Portland-area storytellers up to the Northwest Indian Storytelling Association’s Storytellers Retreat and Public Storytelling Gathering in Seattle. The weekend included public storytelling events, trainings and an organizational meeting at the weekend retreat center as NISA becomes its own nonprofit after being managed by Wisdom since 2004. These activities were funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and hosted by Daybreak Star Culture Center at Discovery Park in Seattle.

Wisdom plans to hold tribal storytelling events in the Portland area and is seeking sponsors and other funding sources so they can continue into the future.

>>>> August 2017 >>>>

Eight Emerging Native Filmmakers finalized production of their own short documentary films they learned to produce during the summer months. They learned video field production in June, began to record in July and completed post production editing by the end of August. This group also served as our Native Peer Mentors during the summer at the NAYA summer science and culture camp sessions, learning advanced environmental science, leadership and mentoring as well as film production.  We appreciate the support of our funders: Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts. We enjoyed our partnership with Open Signal which trained two emerging Native filmmakers inn TV studio production to support behind the scenes at Discovering Our Story Television Program which is broadcast live monthly at their studios.

 
(Left: Multimedia intern Adrienne Moat operating HDTV Broadcast camera at Open Signal for Discovering Our Story TV show, Right: Multimedia intern Marcos Alatorre operating HDTV camera at Open Signal for Discovering Our Story TV show)

>>>> July 2017 >>>>

Wisdom’s Native youth leadership initiative, Discovering Yidong Xinag* provided fun environmental education classes at the Native American Youth and Family Center for 67 youth who enjoyed fun service learning in local natural areas. In the spring, we had also provided training for more than 100 7th grade students at Highland Park Middle School. This culturally tailored multimedia curriculum is now expanding into the DYX Educational Toolkit for tribes with the addition of film clips from the Native Wisdom Documentary Film Series being added to the lesson plans. We are piloting it in 2018 in partnership with Oregon tribes and anticipate it will help fulfill the mandate that Oregon tribal history and heritage will be taught in public schools of Oregon starting in 2019. (*means “Discovering the Old Wisdom” in Deg Xinag dialect of Athabascan)

We have grown thanks to generous support from Miller Foundation, Running Strong for American Indian Youth, Charlotte Martin Foundation and Nike N-7. We are now seeking partnerships and funding to continue expansion into 2018.