Wisdom Circle
Nacha Mendez
Nacha Mendez, an award-winning singer-songwriter from La Union, New Mexico, blends traditional Ranchera canción, learned from her grandmother, with contemporary influences. Performing in border towns with her cousins, the Black Brothers, she shaped her unique style. An enrolled member of the Chihene Nde Nation, her music celebrates culture and resilience.
David Player
David Player, a Louisiana Native, is a first-year lecturer in the ASL & Deaf Studies program at California State University, Sacramento. He holds an MA in Linguistics from the University of New Mexico, where his research focused on the sociolinguistics of signed language variations, language ideologies and policies, and linguistic bias.
DezBaa'
DezBaa’ is born for the Nooda’í Dine’e (Ute clan) and raised in Española, New Mexico. She is a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Writers Guild of America (WGA). She is an actor, screenwriter, director, and indie film producer. DezBaa’ began her career in the New Mexico film industry as a background actor, but soon landed speaking roles—first in Woman Walks Ahead, a 2017 film directed by Susanna White and starring Jessica Chastain.
Julia Hardaker & Julianne Croft
Julia Hardraker & Julianne Croft took positions as Australian Volunteers in Afghanistan in 2004. Together they have run their consultancy businesses providing governance, leadership training and capacity building with remote Indigenous community boards in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, with a school winning the NT Chief Ministers Award for excellence in governance.
Joy Harjo
In 2019, Joy Harjo was appointed the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold the position and only the second person to serve three terms in the role. Harjo’s nine books of poetry include Weaving Sundown in a Scarlett Light, An American Sunrise, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems, and She Had Some Horses. She is also the author of two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior, which invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her “poet-warrior” road.
Pure Fé
Pura Fé (Tuscarora/Taino) is an Indigenous activist, singer-songwriter, and storyteller known for her distinct, soulful vocals and for breathing life into several musical genres. Her work as a musician has brought her around the world to do work at festivals, benefits, in classrooms, online, and in the studio. As a Native activist and cultural leader, she has done work to combat the erasure of native culture, restore traditions, build community, fight corporate takeover of native land, and give a voice to those facing social injustice.
SIMONA
Simona is Aztec, Spanish, and Native American. She is from Pane Blanca, New Mexico, and is a recent graduate from the Instutite of American Indian Arts (IAIA) majoring in studio arts with an emphasis in painting. She has worked on numerous murals in Santa Fe and Albuquerque and is an accomplished musician.
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