About | Elderberry Wisdom 2

About Elderberry Wisdom Farm

The Native America nonprofit corporation, Elderberry Wisdom Farm, was created to assist Native Americans with conservation career pathway planning by integrating traditional ecological knowledge with academic classroom education, experiential service-learning activities and cultural and resilience awareness. Our culturally tailored learning model is designed to train and mentor Native Americans and other interns to successfully pursue and accomplish habitat restoration, native plant nursery development, urban forestry, organic agriculture and related careers. Some of our interns are also continuing to pursue higher education.

Our 501(c)(3) nonprofit is currently led by a leadership team of four staff members and dedicated board of directors. We are continuing to accomplish several initiatives: The Traditional Ecological Knowledge Workforce Development Project, The Native American Urban Forestry Project, the Native Plant Nursery Development Project, the Martin High Bear biography and Blue Elderberry Farm LLC.We are grateful to diverse collaborative partners, including conservation groups, government agencies, educational institutions, local native plant nurseries, and farms as they continue to support our efforts. With their support we are able to assist younger generations of emerging Native American leaders and role models committed to help restore their sacred landscapes. This has helped us to successfully integrate traditional knowledge and experiential learning opportunities with western science academics. These partnerships are expanding throughout 2026.

Elderberry Wisdom Farm is also committed to Native American health and wellness resiliency. By reconnecting project participants to their Oldest Grandmother, our cohorts of Native interns are learning about healing by working with and learning from the world of nature in our local ecosystems. No matter where we are from, no matter what our color, ethnicity, or age, she is still our Grandmother Earth. She provides the peace and tranquility that can only come from the spiritual connection with Creator.

We are especially committed to raising public awareness of Native Americans' prophetic role of helping all peoples learn to care for the earth and for one another with respect and honor. Therefore, plans include providing public audiences with multimedia programming and public cultural events to strengthen awareness and understanding of the cultural heritage and traditional knowledge of Native American elders, cultural leaders and indigenous scientists. Because of our commitment to race reconciliation, our strategic communications plan shows how increasingly inclusive communities can strengthen their appreciation and respect for the wisdom and knowledge of Native American wisdom keepers.Much service learning work continues to occur at Blue Elderberry Farm here in rural Marion County, Oregon. It began with our two-acre farm which has evolved into four acres with our two-acre easement. As the land is restored, teams are expanding several pollinator hedgerows and the Blue Elderberry patch, and using the 24' x 48' semi-gable greenhouse, which is surrounded outside by raised vegetable garden beds, and the new 24' x 48' shade house currently under development up by our recessed native plant nursery beds.

In 2026, we are beginning to develop our second native plant nursery organic farm property which has been offered to us on a long-term lease. We are outgrowing our space at Elderberry Wisdom Farm so this gives us space to continue to grow native trees and shrubs as we train emerging Native American farmers to develop their own farming microenterprises.After 28 years of research, interviews and support from dozens of family and friends, the 330-page biography of the late Lakota medicine man and spiritual leader, Martin High Bear was released September 11, 2024. We continue to provide copies to Native schools and colleges and offer it to others at our website.For more information about our initiatives or if you would like to receive monthly updates, you can sign up for our monthly e-newsletter at the home page of our website. You can also feel free to leave inquiries and comments on our Contact Us page.

EWF Board Members

Dr. Janice Cockrell — Board Treasurer

Dr. Janice Cockrell is a pediatric rehabilitation physician. She graduated from Northwestern Medical School and is board certified in the specialties of pediatrics and physical medicine and rehabilitation. She was on the adjunct faculty of the Department of Pediatrics at Oregon Health Science University and was Medical Director of the Department of Pediatric Development and Rehabilitation at Randall Children's Hospital.

Now retired, she is continuing her commitment to race equity and social justice, in Vernonia, Oregon, a community of 2000 people in the foothills of the Coastal Range. Having co-facilitated a race equity and social justice dialogue group in Lake Oswego where she previously lived for 19 years, she is now involved in Vernonians for Equality and Racial Justice (VERJ) as well as the Vernonia Community Garden, which donates fresh produce to the local food bank.

She has given lectures on race equity at peace conferences, led a workshop for Lake Oswego High School teachers on racism, consulted with other groups hoping to initiate social justice dialogues and continues to participate in Lake Oswego's Respond to Racism dialogue. Her immense networking brought her to Elderberry Wisdom Farm.

Wohpe Twofeathers — Board Communications Secretary

Wohpe Twofeathers lives in Northern California and serves as Board Communications Secretary of Elderberry Wisdom Farm. She brings with her over 25 years of experience and service in the Native American Community. In earlier years she served the Paradise Pow Wow as a committee member and later co-chair as well as being a committee member for the Oroville Salmon Pow Wow.

She entered the Pow Wow Dance Circle as a Jingle Dress Dancer with a dress that her and her Great Aunt created for a year together. As a Pokanoket Tribal Member from 1999 until around 2010 she was a cultural educator for the west coast, sharing the tribes history and stories with elementary school students through college level. Wohpe has been a family historian and genealogist, not only to discover her own ancestors, but assisting others in their quest as well, focusing on the challenges of Native American Ancestry.

She is also a co-founder with her husband of a California non-profit that was established to help catalyst Native American spirituality and community. Her current projects include outdoor education on culturally significant plants and ecosystems.

Most importantly, Wohpe considers being a wife, a mother of 4 and grandmother of 7 her primary 'career' and priority. In younger years she was also a foster mother to 14 children ages ranging from infants to teenagers transitioning out of the system into adulthood.

Roxanna Jensen — Board Facilitator

Roxanna hails from southeast Alaska, with Tsimshian roots near the city of Ketchikan and Metlakatla. She is from the Tribal clan Killerwhale, and subclan bear and eagle. Roxanna is a retired reading specialist and taught for 22 years in various school districts as her husband's job took them all over the country.

Roxanna is grateful to be a member of the Sealaska Corporation which helped her through school with several scholarships. The commitment to give back to the community has been a big part of Roxanna's dedication to the field of education. Working with Elderberry Wisdom Farm is in alignment with that wish to give back to the Native community, and she is looking forward to helping youth learn about native plants and how they can help build healthier communities.

Iris M. DeGruy-Bell was Executive Director of the Oregon Youth Development Council (OYDC) from its inception in 2012 until her retirement from government service in 2017. Appointed by Oregon Governor John A. Kitzhaber, M.D., and re-appointed by Governor Kate Brown, she served as the Council's Chief Administrator.

She has worked with federal and state agencies and national organizations on initiatives aimed at supporting the health and wellbeing of youth and young adults; including the Oregon Health Authority, The Northwest Health Foundation, Casey Family Programs, and The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Prior to her work in state government, Ms. DeGruy-Bell served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Multnomah County. As COO, Ms. Bell oversaw the daily operations of Oregon's largest County and managed a budget of 1.1 billion dollars.

Ms. DeGruy-Bell has expertise and experience in management principles and methodologies supporting the development and implementation of service programs for federal, state and local government, and has extensive background working with foundations and non-governmental organizations.

Ms. DeGruy-Bell holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Master's Degree in Government with an emphasis on Public Policy Studies from the School of Politics and Economics at Claremont Graduate University. She has training in Interdisciplinary Professional Development from Harvard University; Congressional Training in Legislative Affairs and Federal Executive Board training in Executive Leadership.

Iris M. DeGruy-Bell

Rose High Bear — Founding Director

Rose High Bear (Deg Hit’an Dine, Inupiaq) is Founding Director of the Native American 501(c)(3)
nonprofit corporation Elderberry Wisdom Farm. Born and raised in a remote subarctic Athabascan
village of McGrath on Alaska’s Kuskoquim River, her grandmother’s lineage is from the Yukon River
and the 14,500-year-old traditional village of Anvik, Alaska. She is a member of Doyon, Ltd. and her
Alaskan Native Village Corporation is MTNT. She moved as a young child to rural Coos County,
Oregon where she went through public schools in Coquille, and then graduated from Oregon State
University, Corvallis, Oregon (B.S.). Since 1990, she has founded and directed Native American nonprofit
corporations to serve diverse local and regional communities.

In 2019, Rose formed the Native American nonprofit, Elderberry Wisdom Farm, located in rural Marion
County, Oregon. . As Founding Director she created the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Workforce
Development Project, a 5-year career pathway planning initiative in partnership with Chemeketa
Community College. We continue to provides academic and experiential service-learning training for
Native American and other students pursuing conservation, agricultural and horticultural career
pathways. She then developed the Native American Biodiversity Accelerator in 2022, the social and
economic development initiative supported by eleven partners, resulting in the formation of several
microenterprise businesses. In 2024, she created multiple partnerships that integrate Traditional
Ecological Knowledge and indigenous practices that can increase ecosystem biodiversity with partners in
Mid-Willamette Valley forests, wetlands, and farms. Most recently EWF is partnering with multiple
agencies, institutions and organizations to develop the Native American Urban Forestry Partnership and
two Native Plant Nurseries.

In 2021, Rose formed Blue Elderberry Farm LLC in rural Marion County, Oregon. She is currently
growing a crop of Sambucus nigra ssp. Cerulea, the elderberry plant species native to Oregon to produce
a line of organic elderberry syrup, with plans to develop additional food and health care products. In
2021-2, its feasibility study and business, marketing and financial plan was developed to help the farm
provide this value-added specialty product to today’s increasingly discriminating and health-conscious
consumers.

Rose is Co-editor of The Seven Commandments of the Sacred Buffalo Calf Woman: Martin High Bear,
the biography of the late Lakota medicine man and spiritual leader Martin High Bear (1919–1995). The
330-page book features his vision with the ancient cultural values and spiritual qualities of his ancestors.
The inspiration came from the Spirit World in 1988 telling her she would be writing his biography and
that it would have an impact on the peoples of the world. She prepared for this role after his passing in
1995 by recording 450+ Native American elders and oral historians. It was published on September 11,
2024 with book releases and giveaways that continue to be held throughout the country.

She is Executive Producer of the Elderberry Wisdom TV and Radio which is currently broadcast in the
mid-Willamette Valley through Capitol Community Media TV. In the past has produced the Native
Wisdom Documentary Film Series, Wisdom of the Elders Radio Program and Discovering Our Story
TV. High Bear also formed the Northwest Indian Storytellers Association in 2004 working with Native

storytellers to hold 11 annual tribal storytelling festivals and emerging tribal storyteller workshops funded
by National Endowment for the Arts, Oregon Cultural Trust and other foundations.

EWF Staff

Joaquin Ocana, Native Plant Nursery Coordinator

Joaquin graduated from Willamette University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, and serves as Native Plant Nursery Coordinator. His ancestry is mixed with English and Welsh roots on his mother's side and Kaqchikel (Maya) from his father. His work involves developing our native plant nursery at two sites while teaching and mentoring cohorts of interns participating in EWF's TEK Internships. He guides his teams to learn more about and cultivate the trees, shrubs and pollinator species native to Oregon's Willamette Valley. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, hanging out with friends, eating good food and making music.

Renee Dompier, Native Plant Nursery Assistant

Renee is a member of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians along with her father, and her mother is a member of the Confederated Tribe of Grand Ronde Indians. She grew up in the beautiful foothills along the Umpqua River. She loves the farm here, enjoys watching the deer that inhabit the back acreage of the farm and feeding the hummingbirds, frequently giving them all names. She specializes in the removal of invasive species on the farm using manual removal since no herbicides, pesticides or fungicides are used on the land.

David is a 2025 graduate of the University of Oregon and majored in Environmental Studies. He specialized in riparian restoration and ecological research, including pollinator research and analysis. He is coordinating EWF's Urban Forestry project which includes the development of partnerships with Salem-Keizer schools as well as the Oregon Department of Forestry: Urban and Community Forestry and the City of Salem's Urban Forestry program.

David MoraFlorez, Urban Forestry Coordinator

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