View Content #456
| Contentid | 456 |
|---|---|
| Content Type | 1 |
| Title | Wisdom Keepers, Inc. |
| Body | From: Valerie Brestel-Ohle (Nagi) Introduction & Invitation - Wisdom Keepers, Inc. Greetings, My name is Valerie Brestel-Ohle. I'm the Chairman and founder of Wisdom Keepers, Inc., a 501-c-3 educational organization. I'm writing to introduce you to my organization and to extend an invitation. Wisdom Keepers, Inc., was founded in 1997 to create cross-cultural educational opportunities through which people, especially children, could learn directly from verified, qualified members of indigenous cultures. We base our mission on the following beliefs: *We believe that a primary cause of racism is the absence or intentional supression of culturally and historically accurate information about minority cultures. *We believe that this same lack of information causes an unintentional apathy on the part of a mainstream society that would, if it better understood them, stand shoulder to shoulder with these cultures to end once and for all political oppression and genocide. *We believe indigenous tribal cultures are the most often overlooked, misrepresented and stereotyped minority cultures, and are too often presented only in historical context, implying they no longer exist or exist as they did a century or more past. *We believe that a fear of further exploitation by these cultures compounded by anger and frustration at their continued oppressioin has severely impacted cross-cultural exchanges. *We believe the increased desire and sense of urgency on the part of mixed-blood descendents of these cultures, especially American Indian descendents, to learn about and be acknowledged for their heritage has further compounded cross-cultural relationships, and has also increased opportunities for intentional exploitation by cultural frauds, unintentional misrepresentation by misinformed descendents, and caused failure on the part of most descendents to learn about all aspects of their indigenous heritage rather than the most "romantic" aspects. *We believe we can change these things, and that the change is critical to the survival of these cultures and the well-being of society in general. For the past six months, our Board of Directors has been re-evaluating its activities and efforts. The evaluations have resulted in a stronger mission and expanded goals, along with a clearer vision of the future of our organization. Our goals are to: *Find the best cultural, educational, and technical experts who are equally passionate and share as strong a commitment to our vision and mission as we do, to populate our Board of Advisors and Board of Technology, Marketing and Planning. *Use our proven format to implement "Heritage Days" events across the country, eventually reaching thousands of children. *Implement two or more major educational events serving the Eastern US. *Reformat our curriculum-based programs to meet federal funding and educational requirements without limiting the nature of the programs *Develop new programs and free or low-cost resources *Network with tribal, reservation or cultural-based organizations to create high-quality projects that ensure the preservation of their traditions and which create increased opportunities for their self-determination as sovereign nations. I would like to invite each of you to not only explore our website and thereby our organization, but to consider contributing relevant articles, reviews, links, or other information that you feel would benefit others, especially children. I would also like to invite those of you who are members of like-minded organizations or are like-minded individuals to consider potential partnerships or collaborations that would further our mutual causes. Respectfully, Valerie Brestel-Ohle |
| Source | Valerie Brestel-Ohle |
| Inputdate | 2003-09-04 17:44:00 |
| Lastmodifieddate | 2003-09-04 17:44:00 |
| Expdate | Not set |
| Publishdate | Not set |
| Displaydate | Not set |
| Active | 1 |
| Emailed | 1 |
| Isarchived | 1 |
