In this November edition of Elderberry Wisdom Farm’s newsletter, we are honoring and acknowledging another gifted Habitat Restoration Intern who participated in this year’s experiential service learning training. This short film featuring Chase Huntley was recorded at our recent celebration at Chemeketa Community College where five interns were acknowledged for completing their Summer Habitat Restoration Internship.
We are sharing this series of short films by Producer Sam Forencich so our community can understand the importance of funding our Habitat Restoration and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Internships. This appeal to our followers to become a Founding Donor of Elderberry Wisdom Farm will help support these and future exceptional individuals who are entering environmental conservation career pathways. They have completed academic training along with experiential service learning at several sites in our local ecosystems and are ready to expand their careers at Elderberry Wisdom Farm.
By becoming a Founding Donor, you are also strengthening the sustainability of our Native American organization. We have been almost exclusively dependent upon grants since forming in 2019, and are now diversifying through community outreach, and asking you to help us continue to lift our Native American community out of poverty.
Chase Huntley: (Iluko or Philippines, Hawaiian, English, Irish, German) has served as Habitat Restoration Intern at Elderberry Wisdom Farm during both Summer and Fall Habitat Restoration Internships. While at Elderberry Wisdom Farm, he has expanded into agroforestry, horticulture, organic farming, and habitat restoration business ownership. He has an enormous hunger for knowledge in indigenous pedagogy.
Chase grew up on the unceded ancestral lands of the Chinookan Peoples also known as Portland, Oregon. He also spent the summers of his childhood on na moku o O’ahu, Hawai’i. His mother is of Iluko decent, an ethnic group indigenous to the KaÏlūkuän (Illocano) region in the Philippines. His father is of English, Irish, and German descent. After receiving his BS in Natural Resources from Oregon State University (2009 – 2014), Chase received his MA in Education in Urban Environmental Education from Antioch University in Seattle (2019-2021).
He is currently studying the traditional wisdom and practices of his peoples with the hope of reconnecting with his heritage. Chase is interested in preserving and restoring ancestral traditions and relationships to the land under community-driven leadership. He visions a world where Indigenous peoples help guide humanity and the natural world to a healthier place of balance and harmony.
We are excited to report that in January, Chase will be hired as part-time staff at Elderberry Wisdom Farm where he will continue to learn while helping us guide our habitat restoration work at partner sites and develop the Native American Habitat Restoration LLC business plan. Chase will partner with Dr. Aaronda Mayo and Marsha Holt-Kingsley as we continue restoration activities at several habitat restoration sites along the North and South Santiam Rivers. This work is helping to launch our Native American Climate Adaptation Project in partnership with other conservation organizations and agencies here in our local ecosystems.