Indigenous Cultures Institute

The Indigenous Cultures Speakers Bureau offers lectures and presentations. Topics include little known historical and cultural information about the Coahuiltecan people and general education about Native Americans in Texas. We offer lectures for college and community audiences, and presentations are available for schools. Our presentations inspire a new awareness and deep appreciation for the past and present-day contributions of Native Americans. Please contact us to schedule one or more of the following lectures or presentations.
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Mario Garza, Ph.D.	LEGACY OF THE NOBLE SAVAGE Presented by Mario Garza, Ph.D. Meakan/Garzas Band, Coahuiltecan, from San Marcos, Texas Dr. Garza presents a macro view of Native Americans and explains why commonly held misconceptions create negative social, political and cultural consequences for everyone. From the homogenous concept of “Indians” to Native spirituality, Garza shares a new framework for understanding and appreciating today's Native American communities.	Dr. Mario Garza is an elder of the Meakan/Garzas Band of the Coahuiltecan people indigenous to the Texas and northeastern Mexico area. He has a multi-disciplinary Ph.D. from Michigan State University and he currently researches and presents educational lectures about Native Americans. Dr. Garza has decades of involvement in the Native American community, including repatriation of remains, successful development of indigenous nonprofits, re-establishment of ceremonial sites, Native arts and events, and political issues.

Mark Standing Eagle Baez, M.S. with his son Calvin.	NORTH MEETS SOUTH: NATIVE AMERICAN HEALING PRACTICES Presented by Mark Standing Eagle Baez A comparison of the healing ceremonies and rituals used by northern Native Americans to the curanderismo practiced by southern Indigenous People. Contact: Mark Standing Eagle Baez at (210) 410-6123, PO Box 1548, Ft. Defiance, AZ 86504	Mark Standing Eagle Baez received his B.A. from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and his Masters in Psychology from North Central University in Prescott, Arizona. He is working on his Ph.D. in General Psychology. He and his family live on the Navajo Reservation where he has taught a drum group to local Dine' school students ranging from high school to elementary. As a Mental Health Counselor, Baez has created several talking circles and awareness groups for the school district of Window Rock. Baez is Mohawk, Pawnee, and Coahuiltecan.

Carlos Aceves, M.Ed.	THE XINACHTLI PROJECT Presented by Carlos Aceves, M.Ed. Coahuiltecan, author and teacher from El Paso, Texas Aceves presents his work in using Indigenous concepts in the elementary school classroom, which has significantly enhanced the learning abilities of “at-risk” students. He uses the seed as both a scientific and metaphorical example of the center of the Mahayana, which in Coahuiltecan means “around which the spirit flows” and the “Great Wheel.” This unique and successful Indigenous teaching method is based on historical information and oral traditions that Aceves has researched over the past ten years.	Carlos Aceves is an educator with 15 years experience in early childhood education. His Masters in Educational Psychology is from the University of Texas at El Paso. The Xinachtli Project is featured as a chapter in the newly published book: Undoing Whiteness in the Classroom: Critical Education Approaches, edited by Virginia Lea. The text, published internationally by Peter Lang Publishers, is a primer for educators and poltical activitists struggling for de-colonization in public education. The Xinachtli Project is sponsored by Kalpulli Tlalteca and has been active in the El Paso area since 1990 and for the past 13 years at Canutillo Elementary School.

Cemelli de Aztlan, Harvard Divinity School graduate student	INTERNATIONAL DECLARATION OF INDIGENOUS RIGHTS Presented by Cemelli de Aztlan Mexica, from El Paso, Texas The struggles and history leading to the recent adoption by the United Nations of the International Declaration of Indigenous Rights, as a necessary compliment to the International Declaration of Human Rights, and the political and legal implications for Texas Indians.	Cemelli de Aztlan was raised in El Paso, Texas, deeply immersed in the ancient traditions of her Mexica ancestors. Currently she is an intern at the North American Indian Center of Boston as well as a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School where she studies the religious dimensions of the Meso-American traditions and the impact Christianity has had on indigenous religions both in the americas and the world. Through her studies she hopes to mend the disconnect that has torn indigneous people from their land, culture and spirituality through advocacy work on the borderlands.

Mario Garza, Ph.D.	NATIVE AMERICAN CONTRIBUTIONS Presented by Mario Garza, Ph.D. Little known facts about indigenous contributions such as brain surgery, image projectors, genetic engineering and more. A thought provoking re-examination of pre-Columbian Native Americans.	Dr. Mario Garza is an elder of the Meakan/Garzas Band of the Coahuiltecan people indigenous to the Texas and northeastern Mexico area. He has a multi-disciplinary Ph.D. from Michigan State University and he currently researches and presents educational lectures about Native Americans. Dr. Garza has decades of involvement in the Native American community, including repatriation of remains, successful development of indigenous nonprofits, re-establishment of ceremonial sites, Native arts and events, and political issues.

	OJOS DE DIOS – A BRIDGE BETWEEN CULTURES Presented by Julia Nava Apache, artist and teacher A presentation on the origin, meaning and construction, and evolution of Nava's Ojos de Dios artistic creations. These artistic weavings symbolically link the indigenous Mexican culture with the Coahuiltecan Indians of the Rio Grande Delta.	Julia Nava is a professional artist for more than fifteen years, who shows her work at Indian Markets throughout the Southwest. She teaches at the prestigious San Antonio School of Cultural Arts and provides art classes at various schools in San Antonio. Ms. Nava is Apache.

Mario Garza, Ph.D.	“GENTE DE RAZÓN” – OUR INDIGENOUS HERITAGE Presented by Mario Garza, Ph.D. Garza explores the myth that most Mexican Americans are a mixed race of Native American and Spanish-European origin. Based on research from Spanish archives, recent DNA findings, and numerous scientific studies, this lecture brings together an entirely new view of the indigenous identity of Mexican Americans.	Dr. Mario Garza is an elder of the Meakan/Garzas Band of the Coahuiltecan people indigenous to the Texas and northeastern Mexico area. He has a multi-disciplinary Ph.D. from Michigan State University and he currently researches and presents educational lectures about Native Americans. Dr. Garza has decades of involvement in the Native American community, including repatriation of remains, successful development of indigenous nonprofits, re-establishment of ceremonial sites, Native arts and events, and political issues.