4th Annual Indigenous Education Symposium: Full Schedule

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8:00am MDT

Registration and Breakfast

Tuesday July 14, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am MDT

First Floor Lobby

Tuesday July 14, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am MDT
First Floor Lobby

Registration/Breakfast

9:00am MDT

Symposium Welcome Address

Tuesday July 14, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am MDT

Multipurpose Room 105

Opening Blessing
Executive Director Welcome
Debut of Indigenous Science Initiative
Overview of the Symposium Logistics
Introduction to Land Based Healing and Learning sessions
- Transitions/ Wellness Break
- Pickup Sack Lunches

Tuesday July 14, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am MDT
Multipurpose Room 105 940 University Blvd SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA

General Session

10:00am MDT

Bosque Water Walk

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

Water Walk at the Farm - A Watershed Learning Experience
Join us for a land based watershed experience at the Indigenous Farm Hub. Facilitators will guide participants on an educational walk from the farm to the river, with stops along the way, including our hydroponics greenhouse.
Participants will engage in hands-on work to support food production for the local community while exploring our relationships with water, land, and responsibility to our communities. This experience invites educators to consider how we can teach
from the land, center water as a relative, and design learning that connects ecological understanding with community care.
What to Bring:

What to Bring:
Lightweight, breathable clothing
Hat and sunglasses
Comfortable walking shoes
Backpack for your belongings
Water bottle

This is an outdoor activity. Plan for dry, hot weather.

Speakers

Dakota Begay

Alice Tsoodle (Kiowa & Cherokee)

NACA inspired Schools Network

Alice Tsoodle comes from the Kiowa and Cherokee people of Oklahoma and is descendent of European settlers. She grew up in New Mexico and returns by way of Oklahoma, Colorado, and Washington. Her interests and experiences include walking with and learning from children as they reclaim... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

Land Based Healing and Learning Experiences, Difficulty: Low to Moderate

10:00am MDT

Embedding Land-Based Learning and Healing Anywhere

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

Adventure Based Learning experience in untraditional environments.

What to Bring:

Lightweight, breathable clothing
Hat and sunglasses
Comfortable walking shoes
Backpack for your belongings
Water bottle

* Wheelchair Accessible

This is an outdoor activity. Plan for dry, hot weather.

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

Land Based Healing and Learning Experiences, Difficulty: Low to Moderate

10:00am MDT

Healing With, Not Just For

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

Our session will be with Cecelia (Acoma) and Shayai Lucero (Acoma/Laguna), Native American Mother and Daughter from New Mexico. Cecelia and Shayai will share their deep knowledge of plant medicine, curanderismo, wellness and regulation strategies so educators and administrators can integrate and nurture themselves on their paths beyond the symposium.

Presentation Objectives include:
* Contemplate ways to integrate wellness into Science curriculum
* Learn about and consider incorporation of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives within the classroom
* We will be working with various plant medicines from making herbal bags, teas, poultices, etc.
* Practice strategies for self-regulation and restoration to mitigate effects of teaching burn-out

What to Bring:

Wear casual, comfortable clothing
Water bottle
Small bag for personal items, and a notebook/phone for notes

* Wheelchair Accessible

(Photo shown is our graphic description created for a virtual presentation to the Indigenous/Native employees of Cisco.)

Speakers

Shayai Lucero (Pueblo of Acoma and Pueblo of Laguna)

Matriarch and Floral Designer, Earth & Sky Floral Designs

Shayai Lucero was born and raised on the reservations of the Pueblos of Acoma and Laguna in New Mexico, USA. She is of the Roadrunner clan for her mother and a Turkey Child for her late father. In 2008, Shayai graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor of Science... Read More →

Cecelia Lucero (Pueblo of Acoma)

Earth & Sky Floral Designs

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

Land Based Healing and Learning Experiences, Difficulty: Low

10:00am MDT

NACA Land Fam Demonstrations

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

Science Lab EC409

NACA Land Fam Interns and participants will work with medicinal herbs as well as get a demonstration of hydroponics.
What to Bring:

Lightweight, breathable clothing
Hat and sunglasses
Comfortable walking shoes
Backpack for your belongings
Water bottle

This is an outdoor activity. Plan for dry, hot weather.

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT
Science Lab EC409 940 University Blvd SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA

Land Based Healing and Learning Experiences, Difficulty: Low to Moderate

10:00am MDT

Sandia Mountain Hike

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

What to Bring:

Lightweight, breathable clothing
Hat and sunglasses
Sturdy hiking shoes or boots
Backpack or hiking pack for your belongings
Water bottle

This is an outdoor activity. Plan for dry, hot weather.

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

Land Based Healing and Learning Experiences, Difficulty: Moderate to High

10:00am MDT

Ways of Knowing: Place-Based STEAM

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

Learn how to implement culturally responsive teaching strategies and activities that foster an inclusive and equitable classroom environment. You'll explore how to leverage students' cultural and linguistic strengths as assets to enhance STEAM learning experiences.

What to Bring:

Wear casual, comfortable clothing
Comfortable walking shoes
Water bottle
Small bag for personal items, and a notebook/phone for notes

* Wheelchair Accessible

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

Land Based Healing and Learning Experiences, Difficulty: Low

10:00am MDT

Wholeness Through Horses

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

With Jered Lee (SunWise Horseworks)
Two hours of an interactive, nature-based and culturally rooted session with equine. Participants will engage in a holistic
approach to healthy relationship building skills between themselves, nature, and equine. Staff will provide methods of horsemanship, team building, trust building, cultural stories, and
activities focused on the values of safety, leadership, and nurturing.

Photography and recording is not allowed as part of this experience.

What to Bring:

Lightweight, breathable clothing
Hat and sunglasses
Comfortable walking/athletic shoes
Backpack for your belongings
Water bottle

This is an outdoor activity. Plan for dry, hot weather.

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:00pm MDT

Land Based Healing and Learning Experiences, Difficulty: Moderate to High

10:00am MDT

Cooking Demonstration

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:30pm MDT

[Full description will be updated soon]
What to Bring:

Wear casual, comfortable clothing
Water bottle
Small bag for personal items, and a notebook/phone for notes

* Wheelchair Accessible

Speakers

Victoria Martine (Navajo and Pueblo: (Laguna, Zia, Zuni, and Santo Domino))

Semilla Project

My name is Victoria (Viktoryia) Martine. I was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I am half Navajo and half Pueblo: Laguna, Zia, Zuni, and Santo Domino. I love the outdoors, playing soccer, cooking, crocheting and doing art. I have an Associate’s Degree in Integrated Studies... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:30pm MDT

Land Based Healing and Learning Experiences, Difficulty: Low

10:00am MDT

Storytelling, and the Art of Traditional Blue Corn Tamale Making

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:30pm MDT

This immersive workshop invites participants to explore the cultural significance, ancestral knowledge, and living traditions behind traditional blue corn tamale making through an Indigenous lens. Rooted in Pueblo and Indigenous foodways, participants will learn how blue corn is more than nourishment—it is medicine, identity, history, relationship, and a connection to land, community, and generations of knowledge sharers.

Through storytelling, hands-on preparation, and cultural teachings, the workshop will explore the origins and history of blue corn, the process of nixtamalization, and the Indigenous science that transforms corn through traditional methods of preparation. Participants will gain an understanding of how Indigenous communities used observation, experimentation, sustainability, and relational knowledge to develop sophisticated food systems long before modern science gave them names.

Together, participants will prepare traditional blue corn tamales while learning about the values of reciprocity, respect, resilience, and community embedded within Indigenous cooking practices. This workshop creates space for cultural preservation, creative expression, intergenerational learning, and the continuation of Indigenous knowledge through food, story, and shared experience.

What to Bring:

Wear casual, comfortable clothing
Water bottle
Small bag for personal items, and a notebook/phone for notes

Wheelchair Accessible

Speakers

Michael Garcia

Michael “Yaschay” Garcia (Pueblo of Tamaya / Santa Ana Pueblo) is a Keres language teacher, storyteller, and cultural keeper who brings language to life through song and story. His teaching center’s identity, spirituality, and the deep connections between his people, land, language... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:00am - 3:30pm MDT

Land Based Healing and Learning Experiences, Difficulty: Low

4th Annual Indigenous Education Symposium

8:00am MDT

9:00am MDT

10:00am MDT

Dakota Begay

Alice Tsoodle (Kiowa & Cherokee)

10:00am MDT

10:00am MDT

Shayai Lucero (Pueblo of Acoma and Pueblo of Laguna)

Cecelia Lucero (Pueblo of Acoma)

10:00am MDT

10:00am MDT

10:00am MDT

10:00am MDT

10:00am MDT

Victoria Martine (Navajo and Pueblo: (Laguna, Zia, Zuni, and Santo Domino))

10:00am MDT

Michael Garcia

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