Lourdes Pereira

Lourdes Pereira (she/her) is Hia-Ced O’odham and Yoeme and a citizen of the Tohono O’odham Nation. She received her bachelors from Arizona State University in American Indian and Justice Studies. Lourdes is a former Miss Indigenous ASU 2020-2022 and a 25 Under 25 UNITY (United National Indian Tribal Youth) leadership award recipient. Both positions have given her the privilege of working with Native youth across the country.

Lourdes is a Community Memory/ancestral knowledge protector for her tribe, where she has digitalized over 400 cassette and microcassette tapes of her great grandmother interviewing elders in their village and speaking in the O’odham language. She has also scanned over 700 photos and other documents for her community. Currently, she is working with her tribe to create a digital repository that will hold their traditional knowledge and community memory. Lourdes also works full time as a Program Specialist under the Administration for Native Americans, where she supports eastern region tribes and Native non-profits in maintaining their federal grants.