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4 JANUARY 1 5, 2006
Storytellers Festival SPECIAL INSERT
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STORYTELLERS
continued from page 3
"I truly am honored to be on that
committee," said LaBonte. "Most
are Elders. I'm a baby in storytell
ing by comparison."
She played a role in coordinating
this wildly successful event, and
during the event, she shared with
; the othec cOm'nStttc.itnbers the
role of emcee. In that capacity, she
said she requested the job of ex
pressing the group's thanks to all
those supporting the event, and "I
really wanted to introduce Brent,"
she said.
"Every day we all spoke of the
vision," said LaBonte. She com
mented on the large number of
youth that were there. "For me, the
purposes that NISA will serve is
number one, promoting storytell
ing among our young people; and
number two, giving our current
storytellers and our emerging sto
rytellers the self value so they put
a price tag on their services that
reflects what they are worth, be
cause dominant culture commonly
calls upon Native storytellers and
other Native artisans and expects
them to be free or very very low
paid. We want them to understand
they are worth that dollar."
The three-day project received
A Babe in Yarns Tribal Member
and NISA Advisory Board Mem
ber Elaine LaBonte said she was
honored to be on a committee with
such experienced Elders.
support from National Endowment
for the Arts, Multnomah County
Cultural Coalition and Umpqua
Bank. Other sponsors included
United Indian Students in
Higher Education & Native
American Student & Community
Center at PSU, Native American
Rehabilitation Association of the
Northwest, Inc., Portland public
School's Title VII Indian Education,
the Center for Columbia River
History, the Mark Spencer Hotel
and Wisdom of the Elders, itself.
The group raised money to help
pay for the event with auctions and
raffles. Prized offerings included
Pendleton blankets, Native art,
Grand Ronde's Restoration video,
along with outdoor vacations and
restaurant outings.
Wisdom of the Elders also has
received support from the Spirit
Mountain Community Fund. In
2003, the Grand Ronde funding
agency gave WOTE $25,000 in
support of the group's radio pro
gramming. An application for
another grant is pending.
Whatever the level of support,
the obligation for Natives, and
maybe not just for Natives, is to
keep the oral tradition alive. "What
wejiear," said Edmo, "we have to
put back on the wind for others."
c.
1
Festival Project Director Bruce Crespin
(Juaneno Band of California Mission Indians)
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NISA Advisory Council Member and Storyteller Elaine Grinnell
(Jamestown Klallam)
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NISA Advisory Council Member and Tribal Elder Darlene Foster
(Warm SpringsWasco)
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9
NISA Advisory Council Member and Storyteller Roger Fernandes
(Lower Elwha Band of the Klallam)