Visit Indigenous Futures and Radical Thinking at Exhibit Columbus.
Whose voices shape an equitable future for Columbus? Miller Prize recipient Olalekan Jeyifous joined Whitney Amuchastegui, Executive Director of Su Casa Columbus and Carolina Castoreno-Santana, Executive Director of the American Indian Center of Indiana in a discussion that addressed how collaboration, alternative histories, and multiple narratives might play a role in the design of an inclusive future.
Olalekan Jeyifous
Brooklyn NY
Whitney Amuchastegui
Su Casa Columbus, Columbus IN
Carolina Castoreno-Santana (Lipan Apache)
American Indian Center of Indiana, Indianapolis IN
Moderated by Scott Shoemaker (Miami Tribe of Oklahoma)
Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis IN
Whitney Amuchastegui joined Su Casa in 2018 as Executive Director having spent the last three years working at BCSC in the English Learning Department. There, she participated in the establishment of the Cultural Learning Center, promoting the integration of international families into the community, supporting Latino young talent, and encouraging multi-cultural expression in the schools. She is a strong proponent of human rights and positive youth development in our community. Whitney comes from Canada by way of Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina where she spent eight years. It is also where she met her husband and began her family. Her previous roles have been in the graphic design field, working for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Economic Development Corporation in New York City and the Turismo Sustentable arm of the Tourism Secretary in Chile. She holds a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design.
Carolina Castoreno-Santana is the Executive Director of the American Indian Center of Indiana. She is an enrolled member of Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, and is also of Mescalero Apache and Yaqui descent. Carolina is a writer, activist, student, and mother who is dedicated to social justice, the preservation of Native identity, decolonization efforts, and education for and of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her doctoral studies focus on Indigenous communities and academic activism in Latin America. She is dedicated to improving the image and presence of AICI in the community, and has presented on topics surrounding Indigenous identity and rights at NCORE (National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education), the White Privilege Conference, the Indiana Latino Leadership Conference, and other Diversity conferences across the state and country. She is a current member and former board member of the American Indian Movement IN/KY Chapter, where her primary concerns are awareness and action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Outreach to Indigenous Latino Community, and Native American education.
Dr. Scott Shoemaker is the Eiteljorg Museum’s Thomas G. & Susan C. Hoback Curator of Native American Art, History & Culture. He is a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and a direct descendant of Chief Mihtohseenia, one of the Miami leaders who signed the Treaty of St. Mary’s in 1818. Originally from Kokomo, Indiana, Shoemaker has been active in the revitalization of the Miami language and art of ribbonwork for over twenty years.
