Roots of Wisdom

Reciprocal Collaboration with Indigenous Partners

2010–2016

Project Description

Roots of Wisdom involved many groups, including leadership from Indigenous Education Institute (IEI). IEI has been investing in the potential of science centers by involving OMSI and others in additional projects they led through NSF-funding: Cosmic Serpent, Native Universe, and IWISE. These IEI-led projects were professional development projects designed to increase capacity for science museums to work with Native and tribal communities

For six-years, OMSI partnered with Native communities to create an exhibition where Indigenous partners shared stories in their own voices. Bringing together multiple perspectives of Native and shared science, this project highlighted  efforts of multiple Native communities to care for the environment for the benefit of all.

Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve
Indigenous Education Institute (IEI)
Pacific American Foundation
Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources (RTCAR)
Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI)
Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES)
Tamástslikt Cultural Institute
Waikalua Loko Fishpond Preservation Society

Advisors

Joanne Jones–Rizzi
Science Museum of Minnesota
Karen Kitchen (Osage), Program Manager, Portland Public Schools Title VII Indian Education Program
Dennis Martinez (Tohono O’odham/Chicano), Indigenous Peoples’ Restoration Network (IPRN)
Takelma Intertribal Project (TIP)
Margaret Mathewson, Ancient Arts Center, Oregon State University
Charles Menzies (Tlingit/Haida), University of British Columbia
Darren Ranco (Penobscot), University of Maine
Theodore Williams, Northwest Indian College

Funder