City Forum: Emi Aguilar, Indigenous Cultures Institute

In this talk, audiences will be invited to think about settler-colonial culture and how it plays out in our own lives in Central Texas; Indigenous communities of this region; and, how locals can be accomplices in a movement toward #LandBack in service to future generations and Mother Earth.

Emi Aguilar (she/they) is a Coahuiltecan arts educator, culture-bearer, community organizer, and multidisciplinary artist, based among the homelands where her people have continuously resided for over 14,000 years (or, what is recently known as Central Texas to Northern Mexico). Emi is of Indigenous and settler descent. She grew up on Tohono O’Odham Nation lands, and later in Central New York (Cayuga lands). She earned her MFA in Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities from The University of Texas at Austin, a certificate in Arts and Cultural Management from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and a BFA in Theatre (summa cum laude) from Niagara University. 

With a decade of formal teaching experience, Emi specializes in workshops and training on topics such as disrupting settler-colonial culture, indigenizing arts education, and narrative change. She is the Assistant Director of Pop Culture + Media at IllumiNative, where she leads research on Native representation in the entertainment industry. She is a volunteer member of the advisory circle for the Indigenous Cultures Institute, and runs the online initiative @IndigenizingArtsEd on Instagram.

All participants are welcome. For questions regarding access and accommodations, please contact alex.karner@utexas.edu in advance.