We all know it takes a village to raise a child.  It also takes our entire community to help our community.  Every success we have is because of the donations of time and resources brought to us from members of our tribal and non-tribal community.  Please help us in any way you can!  If you are interested in volunteering your time or resources, please let us know on our Contact Us page.

Ways that you can help Xwayamamí Ishích better serve our tribal youth are through giving:

Your Time

Volunteers’ giving their time to work with youth of all ages, and their families, is critical to the success of our programs. For example we can use elders or experience food gatherers to assist with our many workshops and field trips, but also chaperones to help watch over youth during activities. By volunteering, you will have the opportunity to both teach and learn. You can be involved in workshops help children learn how to sing and drum traditional songs, speak and write the Sahaptin language, make beadwork and regalia, tan hides, dig roots, and gather berries. You can also chaperone at events, performances, and powwows. Whether you have a lot of experience with Yakama culture and youth, or no experience, we can use your help. All we require are patience and love for children and their families, all while promoting a drug/alcohol free lifestyle. Be aware that we will conduct a full background check on all volunteers, for the safety of our program participants.

Your Experience

We are always in need of volunteers with experience in cultural activities such as: crafts and art, music, traditional food gathering and preservation, language, and dance.  We can also use volunteers with contemporary knowledge such as videography, modern musical instruments, writing, poetry, running, health and well-being. We have established programs such as language and food collection and preservation, but we always welcome new ideas for programs and activities for youth and families. We can also use people with hands on experience like carpentry and sewing.  If you have a talent you would like to share, please tell us about it on our Contact Us page.

Your Resources

Our programs strive to give our youth skills that they can use throughout their lifetime. In addition to needing supplies for our activities, we try to leave supplies with our youth so they can continue to use their skills in the future. This is a critical part of sustaining these skills. Resources we need include program resources like fuel, vehicles, food, and drinks, building material, canning jars, and others, but also need items we can leave with our program participants, such as cupins, baskets, wing dresses, ribbon shirts, and language materials. There are many ways to donate resources. For example, the Mt. Adams High School Metal Shop is making us cupins at cost ($2 each)!  This will allow us to purchase enough to give one to each of our Root Digging participants this year. If you have any resources you can share, please let us know about it on our Contact Us page.

Your Donations

The most flexible way you can provide us assistance with our programs is through direct donations of money. Donated funds allow us to purchase the many things we need to conduct programs and allow us to bring in experts from around the Northwest to conduct workshops. Because of the many volunteers we have, our workshops require relatively small budgets to be implemented, so even a very small donation can help us immensely.  Please consider making a donation using PayPal (below).  If you would like to make a direct donation to us without going through PayPal, let us know on our Contact Us page.

Thank You for your support.