THE NATURAL WAY: INDIGENOUS VOICES
Honoring, Preserving, and Learning from Cultures and Traditions that value the Earth
The Natural Way: Indigenous Voices is a lecture and workshop series featuring indigenous speakers from around the world who teach and promote native traditions and encourage respect for Mother Earth. The knowledge held by these people include the wisdom of plants, medicines, ceremonies, and a way of relating to Mother Earth that is based on respect and connection.
It began in 1996 when Thomas Banyaca, Hopi elder, encouraged Akimel O’odham elder Rod McAfee and his wife Linda Neale to invite native elders to speak to their community. Originally held in their home, it quickly outgrew that venue and moved first to a church in Lake Oswego, then to Portland State University’s multi-cultural center. The Natural Way series fills important niche in our community, and has enabled elders like Sylvia Walalatum, Phil Lane, Jr., Vi Hilbert, Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Harold Belmont, Agnes Pilgrim, Jake Swamp, and Ofelia Zepeda, to name but a few, to share their stories with a broad cross-section of the Northwest population.
The Natural Way is offered between October and May of each year, usually on the second Friday of the month from 7:00-9:00 p.m., unless otherwise noted.