Zyanya Cruz
Zyanya Cruz was born in Southern California to parents Caroline- unenrolled 1st gen out of residential school- Mescalero Apache and Mexican- and Dennis- Seneca- unenrolled. She has grown up in ceremony and is very involved in Native American Church in Mississippi. She graduated with honors from Overton High School and Cum Laude as a first generation student from the University of Memphis.
She is a jingle dancer, activist organizer and former high school educator. While teaching at a local school she advocated for representation and support for Latinx students with whom she founded the Indigenous and Hispanic Student Association to bring awareness to the existence, culture, struggles, and resistance of Indigenous peoples.
Zyanya is involved in many organizations here in Memphis and has also spoken internationally on cultural appropriation and the water crisis. Zyanya, Aylen, and Maria are also the drivers behind the Three Sister’s Land Project
Amanda Lee Keikialoha Savage
Amanda Lee (kanaka maoli, hapa haole) grew up in Virginia, graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University and completing her M.A. in history at The College of William & Mary. She relocated to Memphis in 2010 and teaches early U.S. and Native American History at the University of Memphis, where she’s won several awards for her contributions to the university community. She is the co-founder of Tiger Pantry, the university’s food pantry for food insecure students, and facilitates SafeZone and diversity trainings across campus. She is the project coordinator for Decolonizing Memphis: The Intersections of Indigineity and Immigration, a digital humanities project examining the potential for technology to assist in decolonizing work, including the promotion of indigenous epistemologies.
Amanda Lee has delivered talks across the state highlighting the ways that appropriation and misinformation perpetuate violence against colonized peoples, Native Americans and Native Hawaiians in particular. Her current work hopes to create a decolonized narrative about the history of Memphis, TN, a story that centers indigenous and immigrant histories instead of settler-colonist versions of the past. She hopes to take this work to the community, changing how people think about their past, and how that might help them see their present in a new light, and change the futures they can imagine.
Our Board
Jared Baker
Jared Baker is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He is an active member of Native American Church and a pillar of his community both in Oklahoma and in Memphis. In his “free time,” he is a skilled wood worker and co founder of Nakfi Crafters. To view their work visit @NakfiCrafters on instagram.
Maria Oceja
Maria Oceja is an experienced community organizer, skilled artist, and visionary. She has roots from Tamaulipas, MX and is reconnecting with her family and culture of the Tlahuica Nation. Reconnecting with her roots and cultivating strong relationships is a key aspect of Maria’s work. She currently organizes with the Vecindarios 901’s Rapid Response Hotline in Memphis, TN to combat ICE intimidation in and around the city. Maria is one of the Sisters of the Three Sisters Land Project.
Adam Bell
Adam Bell is a member of the Mississippi band of Choctaw Indians. He is a skilled crafter, singer and fancy dancer. He is also an amazing uncle to his nieces and nephews. He is always willing to help out whenever and where ever he can.
Aylen Mercado Condori
Aylen Mercado Condori is a writer, artist, and community organizer based in Memphis, Tennessee. She is reconnecting with her family’s Quechua culture and language. She draws from over ten years of organizing to support local and national efforts to empower marginalized communities. Recently, she worked as an organizer with the North Carolina Democratic Party and the Joe Biden Campaign.
Ivan Flores
Ivan was born in Mexico City, and moved to the United States. He started working in social justice, specifically around what is now known as DACA, in 2004. He became a social justice interpreter, co founded, Desayuno con Libros, Mariposas Collective, Vecindarios 901, and continues to work with Comunidades Unidas en Una Voz (CUUV) and other social justice organizations in the Midsouth.