Home | Elderberry Wisdom

Elderberry Wisdom Farm

Elderberry Wisdom is a Native American nonprofit organization located in rural Marion County, Oregon. Elderberry Farm provides opportunities for Indigenous youth to strengthen their traditional ties with the land and to build career pathways in agriculture and horticulture, thereby deepening cultural identity and personal resiliency.

We are committed to supporting our Indigenous youth to become our future leaders. They will reach across all barriers to build culturally inclusive communities, and will use their traditional wisdom to change the way we care for our planet. We encourage our youth to stand on the wisdom of previous Indigenous Scientists to bring their vision to the world community.

Our programs are supported by an organization of strong community advocates for Indigenous youth and their families. They are from diverse backgrounds, with more than a century of combined experience. We invite you to join us as a volunteer or a donor.

Thank you ~ Hatona mahsi cho (Kalapuya) ~ Dogindh (Deg Hit'an Dine) ~ Pilamayaye (Lakota) ~ Meguitch (Ojibwe/Chippewa) ~ Owado! (Tsalagi)

Video courtesy of the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service

End-of-the-Year Fundraiser

Dear Supporters,

Each year the Board of Elderberry Wisdom Farm hosts an end-of-the year fundraiser. Not only are donations from supporters greatly appreciated by the founder, the board and the staff, but funding agencies also need to see that non-profits have a base of supporters.

It is simple to donate: You can go to our website www.elderberrywisdom.org to the "Donate" section. Look for theDonate button and punch it. It accepts major credit cards or you can also donate through PayPal.

Thanks to our donors we will be able to fulfill project plans in 2022 that share Traditional Ecological Knowledge with Native Americans and preserve oral history, traditional stories and other cultural arts as well as tribes’ sustainable conservation principles. We are:

Recording and preserving gifted Native American elders, cultural leaders and scientists while training emerging Native filmmakers
Sharing messages of wisdom and guidance, rich Native American cultural values, stories and music, and habitat restoration principles important to today's changing climate
Sharing messages of harmony and hope that uplifts our community and strengthens race reconciliation

We are especially committed to supporting today's Native American youth who represent our future. They are our future history keepers, future living museums, future community leaders, future healers, future spiritual leaders.

Dogindh! Pilamayaye! Wopila! Thank you!

Janice Cockrell, on behalf of the Board of Directors at Elderberry Wisdom Farm

No riches, wealth, comfort or ease of the material world is equal to the wealth of a bird; all the areas of these plains and mountains are its dwelling, and all the seeds and harvests are its food and wealth, and all the lands, villages, meadows, pastures, forests and wildernesses are its possessions. Now, which is the richer, this bird, or the most wealthy man? for no matter how many seeds it may take or bestow, its wealth does not decrease.

Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 79

Elderberry Wisdom Farm is Recruiting Native American Interns!

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Workforce Training Opportunity

Paid Internship through Chemeketa Community College

Deadline: September 1, 2021 - internship starts October 5, 2021

Learn More

Workforce Development Project

Elderberry Wisdom Farm has created the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Workforce Development Project in partnership with Chemeketa Community College. This five-year educational initiative provides paid internships for Native American adults in the Salem area, including Marion, Polk and Yamhill Counties. This workforce development project has been developed to assist Native Americans and other underrepresented students of color who are interested in accomplishing meaningful career pathways into horticulture and/or agriculture career fields.

Elderberry Wisdom Farm is a Native American nonprofit located in Marion County, Oregon. Our team has evolved a culturally tailored multimedia curriculum since 2012 that is compatible with Native American learning styles. Classroom education along with experiential learning and mentoring activities will be provided in a setting tailored for Native American as well as Alaskan Native, Hawaiian Islander and Pacific Islander students. The class starts in Fall 2021.

Elderberry Wisdom Farm is inviting qualified individuals to apply for the TEK Educator/Crew Leader position. The successful candidate will work part-time with the Project Director from April through December 2021 with an opportunity to expand their role through 2025. The position description is available for review here.

This message to America’s Native American youth was recorded at the Elderberry Wisdom Farm in September in partnership with Northern Arizona University’s Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals. We also welcome our family members to view this message and support their youth as they vision their future, transform their lives and restore traditional First Foods in their sacred landscapes.

Projects

Dogindh! Pilamaya! Wopila! Thanks to the Oregon Cultural Trust and Oregon’s legislature, Elderberry Wisdom Farm has been funded to share Native American cultural arts by:

Recording and preserving four gifted Native elders, cultural leaders and scientists
Sharing messages of wisdom and guidance; rich Native American cultural values; stories and music; and habitat restoration principles in a changing climate
Sharing messages of harmony and hope to uplift our community to strengthen race reconciliation