Northwest Indian Storyteller’s Festival

Join us in Portland for the Fourth Annual Northwest Indian Storyteller’s Festival, including the Emerging Storyteller’s Workshop, a silent charity auction, open mic event, and festival symposium. We will celebrate Pacific Northwest tribal storytelling season by featuring some of the region’s finest traditional and contemporary tribal storytellers. Invocations from tribal spiritual leaders, drummers, and singers will open all events. Eight master tribal storytellers, including S’Klallam storyteller Elaine Grinnell, will share traditional stories at the festival, November 13-15 at Lewis & Clark.This event is open to the public.

At the three-day festival, Northwest and guest storytellers from Alaska and California will be sharing inspirational stories from their own rich cultural heritage. A silent charity auction will be held during Friday and Saturday evenings at the festival. The main event will be the Emerging Storyteller’s Workshop on Saturday, where you can hone your skills with master storytellers from across the region. You can also share your own stories at the Open Mic on Sunday morning, and stay for the storyteller’s symposium Sunday at 2 p.m., where master storytellers from Northwest tribes will share their stories and their rich perspectives about the essential role of storytelling in today’s cultural renaissance in Indian Country.

Event Details

Friday, November 13
7:30 p.m.: Storytelling Evening—Silent Charity Auction Bidding

Saturday, November 14
9am: Emerging Storyteller’s Workshops
7:30 p.m.: Storytelling Evening—Silent Charity Auction Winners

Sunday, November 15
9 a.m.: Open mic
1-4 p.m.: Tribal Storyteller’s Symposium

Our silent charity auction proceeds will help fund storyteller trainings being held over the weekend by Northwest Indian Storytellers Association (NISA).

Registration

Registration is open to the public. Register at this website: http://www.wisdomoftheelders.org/nisa_signup.htm. You may also contact Se-ah-dom Edmo at 503-768-6155 or edmo@lclark.edu

Fee

The $25 workshop registration fee includes all weekend events and five meals (Saturday breakfast through Sunday lunch).

Lewis & Clark students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend at no charge, thanks to support from the Office of Multicultural Affairs. All attendees are urged to register (see the link above) so that we can plan appropriately for food and materials.

Sponsors

The Northwest Indian Storyteller’s Festival is sponsored by the Northwest Indian Storyteller’s Association (NISA) and the Indigenous Ways of Knowing Program at Lewis & Clark. Funding for the workshop has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, McKenzie River Gathering Foundation, Regional Arts and Culture Council, Multnomah County Cultural Coalition, and the Lewis & Clark Office of Multicultural Affairs.