Joaquin Ocana (Kaqchikel Peoples), Native Plant Nursery Coordinator As we break into the new year and the plans for our native plant nursery continue to flourish, we are very excited to share our partnership and collaboration with Geercrest Farm, the historic site near Silverton, OR. Thanks to the vision and efforts of Jim and Erika Toler, owners and stewards of the historic property, Elderberry Wisdom Farm is expanding and forming our second native plant nursery on four acre

By Rose High Bear (Deg Hit’an Dine, Inupiaq), Founding Director We released the Elderberry Wisdom Farm 2025 Annual Report in December. Sam, our filmmaker, drove down to the farm to record us and then he drove back home to edit the content into a short film summarizing the past year of activities at our Native American nonprofit. His recording shows how we value oral tradition to share our truths. It has existed for centuries within our earth-based cultures. I invite you to vi

Photo of Martin High Bear and his horse For the past two internships, we have gifted copies of the Martin High Bear biography to our interns and assigned chapters for them to study. Then during our classes, we discussed what they learned from him. In our third Health and Wellness Resilience class, after interns read the chapters on Martin’s Three Spiritual Lives, they discussed Martin’s journey to become a medicine man and his struggles with alcohol. They explored themes of t

Renee Dompier (Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon) Native Plant Nursery Assistant We are having our first ever six-month Winter TEK Internship and completely filling our classroom with an exciting cohort of gifted and enthusiastic interns! This is the size we usually work with each summer so it is not a new experience but training a team in the winter is new and so is the plan for six month internships. Since our Urban Forestry project prioritizes winter tree planting

By Rose High Bear (Deg Hit’an Dine, Inupiaq), Founding Director   Elderberry Wisdom Farm’s Winter TEK Interns have been offering Blue Elderberry Farm products to the public this winter. Renee, Chloe and I started first at the Salem Holiday Market in December and then a group, including Kaitlynn, Tetianna, Michelle and Jess have been traveling to open our booth at the Corvallis Winter Market starting in January. The response has been fulfilling for both our interns and custome