Turtle Island Storytellers Network
Turtle Island Storytellers Network is the American Indian online speakers bureau which promotes 80 tribal storytellers, historians, and song carriers. This network was developed to provide speaking and consulting opportunities for tribal elders, oral historians, storytellers and song carriers from 13 states in the Northwest and Northern Plains states. Individual webpage portfolios include information on talented oral cultural artists, their biographical summary and contact information, along with audio, transcript and photos. It launched in 2005 at turtleislandstorytellers.net and promotional announcements were distributed to public agencies, institutions, organizations and the media in the region of the artists. This project was funded by Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, National Park Service, and National Endowment for the Arts.
Wisdom of the Elders: Our Mission
As First Nations people, we are humbled by the wisdom of our elders and the deep connection they share with Great Spirit, the world of nature and family. We regard our elders as rapidly-vanishing and irreplaceable keepers of oral history, tradition and the environment. The values they extol represent an ancient legacy of knowledge which is becoming as endangered as many disappearing species in our fragile ecosystem.
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. is an American Indian 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation whose mission is the cultural preservation of indigenous elders’ oral history and cultural arts. We record, preserve and share messages of wisdom and guidance, as well as story and song, from exemplary indigenous elders, tribal historians, storytellers and song carriers from native nations throughout North America. Our ultimate objective is to regenerate the greatness of cultural values among today’s and future generations of American Indians. To fulfill our mission of education, and acknowledging the need for reconciliation between Indian and non-Indian, Wisdom of the Elders also shares these rich teachings with all peoples, using public radio production and other educational venues in collaboration with diverse cultural organizations and educational institutions.
Our projects include the American Indian public radio program, Wisdom of the Elders Radio and its companion website, educational curriculum aligned to Oregon educational standards, the Northwest Indian Storytellers Association, the American Indian Speakers Bureau at Turtle Island Storytellers Network, the upcoming biography, The Seven Commandments of the White Buffalo Calf Maiden: Martin High Bear (1919-1995), and outreach materials currently being planned.
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. was founded in 1993 in Portland, Oregon by the late Martin High Bear, Lakota medicine man and spiritual leader, and Rose High Bear, Deg Hit’an Dine, or Alaskan Athabascan. WOTE is administered by its Board of Directors and staff, which includes members who are Abenaki, Choctaw, Cowlitz, Deg Hit’an Dine, Kalapuya/Coos, Latino, Mohawk, Ojibwe, Southern Ute, and Wasco/Warm Springs.
You are invited to become a Friend of Wisdom of the Elders
Friends of Wisdom of the Elders is a community of individuals who support the projects of Wisdom of the Elders, Inc.
Our projects include:
* Wisdom of the Elders Radio Program and its website at www.wisdomoftheelders.org which shares our first three series of American Indian radio programs. Our programs are heard on American Indian Radio on Satellite, on other public radio stations nationwide and internationally, and at our website.
* Turtle Island Storytellers Network , our American Indian speakers bureau which includes gifted oral historians, storytellers, song carriers and others from the Northwest and Great Plains, with plans currently underway to expand to the six states of the Southwest. This speakers bureau is online at turtleislandstorytellers.net.
* Northwest Indian Storytellers Association which was formed in 2005 to encourage, preserve and strengthen traditional storytelling and oral cultural arts among tribes in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. NISA held its third annual gathering in January 2008.
* Wisdom of the Elders Curriculum Project is our newest project, featuring multimedia American Indian curriculum materials for schools, in a collaboration with the State of Oregon Department of Education's Indian Education office and others.
* The biography of WOTE's founder, the late Lakota medicine man and spiritual leader, Martin High Bear. The Seven Commandments of the White Buffalo Calf Maiden: Martin High Bear (1919-1995) .
When you become a member of Friends of Wisdom of the Elders , you agree to make a financial contribution to help our projects succeed, and also encourage your friends and colleagues to become involved. You can make a donation at any level you choose within four circles of giving over a one year period, either a one time contribution or periodically.
In return, we will gift you with a CD of one of our radio programs and then send you a quarterly newsletter that helps to keep you informed of our latest activities and plans. Sometimes newsletters also include excerpts from transcripts of gifted elders, tribal historians and storytellers.
Currently, we are developing the Friends of Wisdom of the Elders web page to acknowledge members of Friends of Wisdom of the Elders, and your name will be included along with our national fundors, National Park Service, , National Endowment for the Humanities, and local foundations, which includes Meyer Memorial Trust, and Oregon Arts Commission. Newsletters are sent by e-mail. If you do not have e-mail, let us know and we'll mail them.
In addition, you will develop greater understanding and appreciation for the diversity of American Indian oral history and cultural arts still thriving among more than 550 nations in America today. You will learn more about traditional indigenous cultural values which have been obscured by history and misunderstanding. Most important, you'll know you are supporting WOTE's vision and mission of American Indian cultural preservation, education and race reconciliation.
