Welcome to
of
Native Writers & Storytellers
to ensure that
the voices of Native writers and storytellers -- past,
present, and future -- are heard throughout the world
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NATIONAL
DIRECTOR ASSOCIATE NATIONAL
DIRECTOR NATIONAL CAUCUS |
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sponsored by
"Returning the Gift" will also host the Native
Writers Circle of the This event is made possible
with the generous support of |
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Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and
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Where:
USAO Ballroom Wordcraft Native Writers would
like to invite youth community members to the Youth Writing Workshop. This
Workshop is "FREE" and open to the public. Writing workshops
will be broken into two part sessions. Sessions will include “Stage
and Screen,” “Spoken word, Hip-hop, Slam Poetry,”
“Graphic Novels and Comic Books,” “Poetry,”
“Prose; Oral Storytelling, Fiction, Short Stories, Novels.” Guest
instructors include: David Valverde, Rachel
Jackson, Sarah Webb, Lee Francis IV, and Kimberly Roppolo.
This event is run in conjunction with the WC/NWCA Returning the Gift
program and participants will have the opportunity to attend the other events
Thursday evening, Friday
afternoon, and Saturday. For more information or to receive a detailed event schedule please
contact: Jay Goombi: kiojtg@yahoo.com
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Re-Visioning
for the Next Sixteen Years
Created: September 21, 2007
For sixteen years, the vision of Wordcraft has remained unchanged: To ensure that the voices
of Native People - past, present, and future - are heard throughout the world.
In this our sixteenth year, we look to our past to reimagine
and revision
After much discussion with Wordcrafters and Native people throughout Turtle Island, we
have come to the conclusion that the vision is still strong, and it is time for
us, the next generation of Wordcrafters, to take our
organization and family to the next step: to revision and to a focus upon
making sure that Native voices are heard not only through writing, but through
story and activism and civic/cultural/community engagement and involvement.
Native people of all ages need to realize how their voices can create change,
how their actions can bring about a better community. For 2007 and beyond, Wordcraft is focused on using story as a means of conveying
traditional and contemporary values and ideals, as well as articulating the
need and desire for Native people to create their own paths and visions. We
look to help increase leadership capacity in Native youth and Native
communities. Ideally, we, as Native People, need to find our own way, develop
our own leaders, ensure that our stories are told - past, present, and future -
for all time.
To accomplish our ambitious
vision, we will again look to our history and focus our efforts on solidifying
our Mentoring Connections. The Mentoring Core was one of the bedrock concepts
that Wordcraft began with, and we would like to see
that this concept is brought back to help center the organization as we expand
our vision and our Wordcraft family. We will continue
to work through writing and storytelling to deliver the message of independence
and sovereignty for Native people and we will invite Native people from all
"walks-of-life" to participate. Along with the Mentoring Connections,
in the following months, we will look to focus on Leadership Aspects within
Native communities and demonstrate how important it is to connect the concept
of leadership with story, for if we do not have the ability to communicate
effectively, how do we intend to correct the lies and mistakes and take back
our words and ideas? By focusing on two core elements, we hope to create a
stable foundation that has been missing since the Founder and First National
Director, Lee Francis III, passed away in 2003.
Finally, we want to center the
organization and membership of Wordcraft at a community
level and we will be encouraging members to create chapters, no matter how
small, in their areas to promote and engage their friends, family, tribe and
community, in civic action, leadership, story and the vision of Wordcraft.
Lee Francis
IV
Contact: Bob Nelson