Founders, Directors and Officers
Patricio O. Dominguez - Founder - Director - President
Patricio was born in the summer of 1949 in a small traditional community and
was cultured by the contact of not only his parents and Grandparents that lived
in the community but he was fortunate enough to have a Great grandmothers
influence until he was 13. His Great grandmothers specialty was herbs and his
grandmother healed by the power of touch now called massage.
At the age of five Patricio was presented in a public ceremony to the
medicine men to be blessed as a man of spiritual knowledge. In the
summer of his life he married a nice Navajo Lady in the Native
Tradition. They have two children, one Grandson and one Great Grandson.
Patricio now lives in Albuquerque and is on the Board of Directors of
two other non-profit corporations and on the advisory committee of the
International Indigenous Coalition. He now dances and leads ceremonies
with the tribe several times per year.
Tribe: Piro Manso Tiwa,
Education: Traditional and University of New Mexico
 Emigdio Ballon
- Director - Secretary
Emigdio Ballon, is a member
of the Quechua Indian culture and was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He earned his
Bachelors degree in agriculture at Major Bolivian University of Saint Simon in
Cochabamba, Bolivia and his Masters degree in plant genetics in Colombia. He
studied for his Doctorate at Colorado State University. As a plant geneticist he
has specialized in research on quinoa and amaranth grains and has published many
articles about them in both South and North America.
Emigdio has served as an organic certification inspector in the United States
and has made many presentations at major conferences on agriculture. He has
studied principles of bio-dynamic farming at the Josephine Porter Institute of
Applied Bio-Dynamics and continues to study and make presentations at various
seminars.
In his little free time,
Emigdio pursues research into germination techniques for a wide variety of
crops, including traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic herbs and herbs indigenous to
Northern New Mexico. His other interests include seed saving and sharing,
bio-dynamic and organic farming and sustainable agricultural practices. He is
also involved with Native American organizations which stress the importance of
seed saving and promote the revival and continuation of traditional crops, both
nutritional and medicinal. He employs traditional Quechua techniques and rituals
which he learned at his grandfather�s side as a boy in Bolivia.
Ver�nica Iglesias - Director - Treasurer
Veronica was born in
Mexico City, Mexico. She has a Bachelor�s degree in Library Sciences and a
Master�s Degree in Mesoamerican Studies from the National Autonomous University
of Mexico (La Universidad Nacional Aut�noma de M�xico). She grew up in a family
that always honor the Earth, the plants and all the living beings. She was
iniciated like sahumandora (bearer of the Sacred Sahumerio) when she was 8 years
old. She studied about medicinal plants and she has taken courses in crystal
therapy and healing with gems.
She also was iniciated in the sacred knowledge of Mesoamerican shamanism and she
became Portadora de la Palabra, bearer of the Sacred Word.
She is currently researching Mexican gem stones and their therapeutic uses,
specially obsidian, jade, turquoise, and others used since ancient times.
Research Areas:
�
Pre-Hispanic
medicine.
�
Feminine
Shamanism in Mesoam�rica.
�
The figure of
the �nagual� as the alter ego of human beings.
�
Use of
medicinal plants.
�
Use of gems
for meditation.
�
Feminine rites
of passage.
�
Phases of the
moon and their influences in life.
�
The recovery
of the traditional Mexican temazcal (steam bath)
 Kirmani
Montaocean - Director of projects in Oklahoma
2010 Associate
degree in Aerospace Maintenance from the College of the
United States Air
Force
2005-present
obtaining a Master�s Degree in Museum Studies, Liberal
studies from
Oklahoma University (On-Line)
2004 Bachelor�s
Degree in Museum Studies, Institute of American Indian Arts
Phi Theta Kappa
2002 Associate
Degree in Museum Studies, Institute of American Indian Arts,
Student body
President
1998 High School
Graduate from Emerson College Preparatory Institute, with Honors.
Poet laureate,
yearbook and prom committee
 Uzoma Peter Lane - Board of Directors member
Uzoma was born in Washington DC and spent his early life in service to
the community including job training, asset mapping, food distribution
and building renovation. He studied history and English at Howard
University, serving as a planner and records administrator for the
Chancellor Williams Historical Society. He also served as the chess
club's historian, worked with Circle K, and helped organize a political
action committee. He contributed regularly to the university newspaper
and had his poems published in three literary journals. After college,
Uzoma worked as a tutor and volunteer professor, founding Wise Owl
Services. To date, Uzoma has written over two hundred articles for
various news sites, ghostwritten eleven novels, and penned dozens of
short stories. Today he works as a private tutor in Washington DC's
Brightwood community.
Flordemayo - Founder - Retired
Flordemayo is a "Curandera Espiritu" (healer by divine spirit). Born in a
small town in the big highlands of Central America. She grew up in a family
of traditional healers, learning the art of �Curanderismo� in the
traditional way: taught from mother to daughter, generation to generation. She
worked from age four as her mother�s apprentice. She works with the sacred
breath, laying on of
hands, and application of herbs. She works directly with clients or just as effectively
with absent or distant healing Flordemayo has had the gift of being able to see
Work with the effects of physical, emotional and spiritual imbalance in the
energy system.
Flordemayo has worked with alternative western healers, Native American and
Mayan healers. She recieved her mayan priest training from Don Alejandro Cirilo
Perez Oxlaj a respected spiritual leader, and head of the Quiche Maya Council of
Elders. Flordemayo is now recognized as a �priestess� by the Maya. She is a
founding member and President of the Institute of Natural and Traditional Knowledge.
Flordemayo has been
a featured speaker on Curanderismo at many conferences on traditional medicine;
both within the United States and internationally in addition to alternative
healing practitioners, medical doctors, nurses and medical institutions
have recognize her knowledge and natural healing skills. Flordemayo is a
frequent presenter at international conferences such, as the Institute of Noetic
Sciences, Bioneers and recipient of the Martin de la Cruz Award for Alternative
Healing, a prestigious honor given by the International Congress of Traditional
Medicine.
Since 1999 Flordemayo has been a part of the
Wisdom of the Grandmother�s Foundation. Currently Flordemayo is a member of the
Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. Flordemayo and the grandmothers
have traveled around the world uniting people in a circle of prayer.
Now with "The Path"
 Cloud
Eagle - Founder - Deceased
Ernest Eugene Mirabal Soe Huwa Ohuwa Tsay Cloud Eagle 1960-2011 Nambe Pueblo Tribe.
He received an Associates of fine arts from the Institute of American
Indian arts having studied painting, sculpture and jewelry making. A lifetime
member of Nambe Pueblo, he was dedicated to his people and his beliefs; by being
a spiritual leader very involved in his traditions. Resume includes: Artist: Traditional
Musician/Song/Dance Director/Founder. Cloud Eagle Multi-media Studios Gallery.
Lecturer, Philosopher, Writer, Poet, Spiritual and Public Speaker. Sculpture of
stone, wood, ceramic, metal etc. Painter in acrylics, oils, watercolors, etc.
Graphic designer and architectural drawings AFA. 2 & 3 Dimensional Arts
teacher/Program Coordinator.
Teacher and Educator: Teacher and Program Coordinator Vo-Ed teaching
sculpture in stone and clay painting classes for various youth groups JTPA Job
Training Apprenticeship Program Art a Cultural Youth Exchange Program.
Indigenous Arts and Philosophy.
Pictographs and Petroglyphs of the Indigenous Peoples.
 Kaiya Montaocean - Founder - Deceased(pictured with daughter Kirmani aka Zayan)
Kaiya was born in McAlester, Oklahoma, on November 11, 1945, of Irish
and Native American (Appalachian Eastern Band Cherokee and Fort Sill
Apache) heritage. She learned to respect her cultural roots from her
father Johnny, who taught her woods crafts such as tracking and a love
of the natural environment.
She studied arts and traditional healing methods with masters and
elders in Japan, all over the Americas, and in Africa and was the first
in her family to attend a university, earning a BFA in film and
education and an MA in human relations from the University of Oklahoma
and a doctorate (ABD) in human sociology from Antioch.
In the 1970s, Kaiya, known then as Brandy Wood, was an Assistant
Professor in the Human Relations Program at the University of Oklahoma.
In New Mexico where her daughter Zayan attended the Institute of
American Indian Art, Kaiya saw many students struggling with learning
disabilities. She worked as a volunteer tutor and mentor at IAIA
and lobbied to expand resources for students who learn differently. In
Washington, D.C., where she moved in 1980, Kaiya worked with young
people, as well, helping them understand themselves and others through
the arts, whether on a mural project or in original, student-written
theatrical presentations under the auspices of the Latin American Youth
Center and the GALA Hispanic Theatre.
In 1988, Kaiya worked with Dr. Wu Jing-Nuan at the Green
Cross of the Americas Clinic to organize The Cross-Cultural AIDS
Conference, held December 12-16, 1988. The conference brought together
acupuncturists and other medical practitioners from China with health
personnel in the United States in Washington, D.C., to discuss treating
HIV/AIDS using traditional herbal and other modalities to promote
immune health and quality of life for AIDS patients.Feeling the project
was moving beyond Green Cross�s scope; Dr. Wu offered Kaiya the third
floor of Green Cross to start the Center for Natural and Traditional
Medicines (CNTM), which she founded together with Vera Pratt and Dr.
John Rutayuga, also of Washington. In the 1990s, through CNTM, Kaiya
brought together teams that worked on community health projects
internationally. In South Africa, the efforts centered on HIV and
AIDS, while the focus in Nigeria was about traditional ways to treat
sickle cell anemia. An extensive project in Jamaica centered on
the village of Accompong, a rural Maroon community. The activities
included preserving traditional healing knowledge and offering support
to local traditional healers and establishing a birthing center and a
community garden of medicinal herbs. The project also produced a
book, Traditional Plants of the Maroons, and a CD of traditional Maroon
music.
Kaiya served as a director, treasurer and principle grant writer for
The Confederation of Indigenous Elders of America and its educational
branch Anuyu,(Today called INTK) A Native American advocacy groups with
headquarters in New Mexico. Anuyu, focused on the preservation of
traditional cultures and Mother Earth through education, is now
creating an educational institution based on indigenous values that
serves the community and promotes the native peoples� positive vision
of the future. Anuyu has accumulated a store of knowledge from
Indigenous Elders and will publish books and documentary videos to
preserve and disseminate these
teachings. Through Anuyu, Kaiya continued her work on community
health projects, both in South Africa and Bolivia. In South
Africa in 2002, she met with traditional healers and cultural and
spiritual leaders, working to create a knowledge and experiential
exchange for the new institute that would go both ways.
Kaiya helped organize and facilitate three conferences: The
Curanderas Conference in 1999 brought together tradition healers from
Central and North America with western medical academics to discuss
common ground and the mutual respect and symbiotic survival of the two
traditions. She passed into the spirit world in 2003. |
Institute
of Natural and Traditional