WHO WE ARE
OUR TEAM OF INDIGENOUS TEACHERS AND ALLIES
Samuel Gallegos, BS, ME
Cultural Educator, Stakeholder
Mescalero Apache and Southern Cheyenne
Co-founder Sam Gallegos (BS, ME) is Mescalero Apache (Dad's side) and Southern Cheyenne (Mom's side) and a direct descendent of Picken Bones Woman, Southern Cheyenne. Since 1990 he has been teaching/educating in various settings, and is currently an adjunct professor at CSU Pueblo, creating a new Native American/Indigenous studies program. As a Native American cultural teacher, he has recently worked with other educators across the state to develop K-12 curriculum.
Annie Drysdale, BA
MA Museum Studies Canidate 2025
Buisness Manager, Stakeholder
Ally
Before entering graduate school, Annie spent two successful decades building her leadership skills in the creative for-profit sector. Pursuing a Master’s Degree in Museum Studies from the University of Denver, she serves as the Exhibitions Manager for the Davis Art Gallery. Her thesis work is being conducted with a relational approach to the responsible integration of Indigenous Research Methods into museum practices. Her research is being done in collaboration with artist Susan “Traditional Woman” Hudson (Diné), who is the first Indigenous Storyteller Quilter in the United States.
Rebecca Robles, MBA, MPP
Cultural Educator, Stakeholder
Mexica
Patli Mayahuel Cihua (MBA/MPP) is a Chicana with Indigenous roots in the Aztec & Purepecha peoples of Michoacan, Mexico. She is a student-teacher of Mexican Traditional Medicine, or Curanderismo, and an Aztec dancer with Groupo Xochitl. She began studying Curanderismo in August of 2020 with Maestra CC, Maestra Paula, and Maestro D'Santi of the Kalpulli Teocalli Ollin (Community of Sacred House of Energy). Before that, she had been studying Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine since 2016.
Karen Yescavage, Ph.D.
Educator, Stakeholder
Ally
Karen Yescavage, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Colorado State University-Pueblo, created and coordinated the Creative Wellness program, a new interdisciplinary minor promoting well-being through various forms of creative expression. She also co-founded Storytellers of the Ancestral Red Road (SOAR), a Southern Colorado collective of Indigenous Elders and allies, sharing cultural wisdom in multi-generational educational settings and practicing well-being and community-focused healing through creative expression.