Elderberry Wisdom Farm
Board Members
Dr. Janice Cockrell
Board Facilitator
Dr. Janice Cockrell is a pediatric rehabilitation physician. She graduated from Northwestern Medical School and is board certified in the specialties of pediatrics and physical medicine and rehabilitation. She was on the adjunct faculty of the Department of Pediatrics at Oregon Health Science University and was Medical Director of the Department of Pediatric Development and Rehabilitation at Randall Children's Hospital. Now retired, she is continuing her commitment to race equity and social justice, in Vernonia, Oregon, a community of 2000 people in the foothills of the Coastal Range. Having co-facilitated a race equity and social justice dialogue group in Lake Oswego where she previously lived for 19 years, she is now involved in Vernonians for Equality and Racial Justice (VERJ) as well as the Vernonia Community Garden, which donates fresh produce to the local food bank. She has given lectures on race equity at peace conferences, led a workshop for Lake Oswego High School teachers on racism, consulted with other groups hoping to initiate social justice dialogues and continues to participate in Lake Oswego’s Respond to Racism dialogue. Her immense networking brought her to Elderberry Wisdom Farm.
Duane Medicine Crow
Board Co-Chair
Duane Medicine Crow is a member of the Crow Nation which is located in south central Montana. Some tribes refer to the Crow people as the Raven people. His Indian name translates as ‘He Who Helps His People.’ His mother was Piegan from the Blackfeet people and his great-grandmother was full-blood Piegan. His great-grandfather on his father's side was full blood Crow. His name was Medicine Crow, but actually, he regarded his name as Sacred Raven. His great-grandmother was taken on a raid by the Crows, her and her sister when they were young, just four or five years old and became a part of the Crow Nation.
He was an athlete during his school years and played football and basketball. He was also an artist, and also had experience working on ranches, including training horses. Like so many Indian people, he also developed a great desire for hunting wild game.
His working career was with the US Forest Service as a wild land fire fighter. He shares that “Indian fire crews were highly regarded and sought after. Almost every tribe in the nation has a crew of firefighters. And I'm proud to be kind of associated with those folks, because I was one of the few who made it beyond just working on the fire line.” As a middle manager he had a lot of additional managerial responsibilities working in cooperation with other people and helping make the ranger districts run the way they were supposed to run. The budget in his department was nearly a million dollars so as a supervisor, he hired and supervised a lot of people.
Grandfather Medicine Crow now lives in Salem, Oregon where he leads a group of individuals of the four colors who meet (when possible) at Morningside Methodist Church. He also serves as Board Co-chair of Elderberry Wisdom Farm where he recently discovered a big Oak tree out back that had a fire scar on it. He believes that that fire scar is evidence of a century or more ago when the Indians were doing controlled burning in this part of the country.
Wohpe Twofeathers
Communications Officer
Wohpe Twofeathers lives in Northern California and is a Founding Donor of Elderberry Wisdom Farm. She brings with her over 25 years of experience and service in the Native American Community. In earlier years she served the Paradise Pow Wow as a committee member and later co-chair as well as being a committee member for the Oroville Salmon Pow Wow. She entered the Pow Wow Dance Circle as a Jingle Dress Dancer with a dress that her and her Great Aunt created for a year together. As a Pokanoket Tribal Member from 1999 until around 2010 she was a cultural educator for the west coast, sharing the tribes history and stories with elementary school students through college level. Wohpe has been a family historian and genealogist, not only to discover her own ancestors, but assisting others in their quest as well, focussing on the challenges of Native American Ancestry. She is also a co-founder with her husband of a California non-profit that was established to help catalyst Native American Spirituality and Community. Her current projects include out door education on culturally significant plants and eco systems. Most importantly though, Wohpe considers being a wife, a mother of 4 and grandmother of 7 her primary “career” and priority. In younger years she was also a foster mother to 14 children ages ranging from infants to teenagers transitioning out of the system into adulthood.
Roxanna Jensen
Roxanna hails from southeast Alaska, with Tsimshian roots near the city of
Ketchikan and Metlakatla. She is from the Tribal clan Killerwhale, and
subclan bear and eagle. Roxanna is a retired reading specialist and taught
for 22 years in various school districts as her husband’s job took them all
over the country. Roxanna is grateful to be a member of the Sealaska
Corporation which helped her through school with several scholarships.
The commitment to give back to the community has been a big part of
Roxanna’s dedication to the field of education. Working with Elderberry
Wisdom Farm is in alignment with that wish to give back to the Native
community, and she is looking forward to helping youth learn about native
plants and how they can help build healthier communities.
Barb Stevens-Newcomb
Barb is a writer, painter and retired bilingual teacher, currently tutoring
refugees in Eugene, Oregon. Barb founded the Inner Yaga Foundation, a
women's personal growth organization and she is the creator of The
Daughters of Ishi-shini, an award-winning recording of ancient stories. Barb
lives with her husband, a geologist and Native American ceremonialist, in
the forest south of Eugene, Oregon.
Max Defender
Max Defender describes himself as a common man raised on the Turtle
Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. He was given the right to carry on
ceremonies of the Ojibwa people by his elders and has conducted
ceremonies in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest as well as from his home
in Dunseith, North Dakota. He has lived in Gresham, Oregon since the
1990’s and was an electrician prior to his retirement. He also serves on the
board of directors at Elderberry Wisdom Farm and tries to attend board
meetings when he is in town. Max shares a story and song in this film clip.
