About







Founders

Miakan-Garza Band
Four generations of the Miakan-Garza Band, representing fifteen major families, attended the State recognition ceremony at the State Capitol on May 16, 2013.

Mario Garza, PhD
Dr. Mario Garza currently serves as board of elder’s chair and is the principal founder of the Institute. He is the Cultural Preservation Officer of the Miakan-Garza Band. He earned a multi-disciplinary Ph.D. from Michigan State University in Social Science, with areas of concentration in Sociology, Political Science and Social Work. He has been active in graves protection and repatriation since 1991 participating in reburial ceremonies at the Comanche Cemetery in Fort Hood, Texas including two Coahuiltecan reburials. Dr. Garza served two tours of duty in Vietnam with the 1/616th Medical Clearing Company, 44th Medical Brigade, U. S. Army. He currently lives in San Marcos, Texas near the sacred springs that archeologists believe to be the oldest, continuously inhabited site in North America.
Board of Elders

Chair

Vice Chair

Secretary

Treasurer

Board Member

Gilbert Garza
Board Member

Board Member

Board Member

Board Member
Staff Members
María F. Rocha
Executive Director
Bobbie Garza-Hernandez
Public Relations and Development Consultant to the Executive Director’s Office
Ruben Arellano, Ph.D.
History Consultant to the Executive Director
Isabel Mata
Assistant to the Executive Director
Marleen Villanueva
Assistant to the Executive Director
José Dominguez-Leal
Operations & Communications Director
Aaron Pyle, M.S.W.
Financial Officer
Javier Garza
Sacred Springs Powwow Coordinator
Mario Garza, Ph.D.
Repatriation & Language Program Coordinator
Pablo Montes & Marleen Villanueva
Nakum Journal Co-Managing Editors
Diana Guizado
Yana Wana’s Legend of the Bluebonnet Tours Coordinator
Mario Alberto Ramirez
Performances Program Coordinator
Pablo Montes, M.A.
Youth Programs Coordinator
Carlos Aceves
Xinachtli Project Coordinator
Esmeralda Perez
Volunteers Coordinator
Marisa Diaz
Intern