The Native Coast Team
Meet the board and staff of Native Coast.
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Teresa Romero
Teresa Romero is an enrolled member of the Coastal Band of Chumash, is a member Syuxtun Plant Collective, a traditional plant collective focusing on tending, gathering and preparation of traditional plants. Teresa has served on the MPA Statewide Leadership Team as a Tribal Representative since 2019. Teresa has worked for over 20 years assisting Tribal Communities on projects, such as acquiring lands for the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians, protecting Treaty Rights (Little River Band of Ottawa Indians) and preserving traditional cultural knowledge for her Chumash community. Teresa has deep ties to her traditional homelands and the ocean.
Board President
Deana Dartt
Deana Dartt, member of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation, and is the founder of Live Oak Consulting in Eugene, Oregon, an organization committed to reshaping public narratives about Native people and assisting institutions in their efforts to be more accountable and responsive to Native communities (www.liveoaknative.com). She recently served as the Anne Ray Fellow at the School for Advanced Research where she revised her dissertation manuscript, "Subverting the Master Narrative" which examines distorted representations of Native cultures and histories in the Franciscan Missions and other public history sites in California. She earned her MA in Archaeology and PhD in Cultural Anthropology with an emphasis in Museum Studies from the University of Oregon (go Ducks!). She then served as Curator of Native American Ethnology at the Burke Museum and American Indian Studies faculty at the University of Washington from 2008-2011, and from 2011-2017 as the Curator of Native American Art at the Portland Art Museum. Dartt lives in Cottage Grove, Oregon with her daughter, Allukoy.
Treasurer
Elise Hughes
Elise Hughes was born and raised in Seattle, WA and currently resides in Bonney Lake, WA with 2 of her 3 sons. She is of Chumash, Latina and Scottish Lineage. She is a graduate of the University of Washington with a degree in English.
Secretary
Roberta Cordero
Roberta Cordero was born and raised in Santa Barbara of Chumash, Yaqui, and Latina lineage. A former resident of Washington—where her five children and nine grandchildren live—she is a graduate of University of Washington with degrees in music and law. Ms. Cordero is deeply involved in the revitalization of Chumash indigenous maritime culture. A co-founder of Chumash Maritime Association and a builder and former paddler of the traditional Chumash canoe, ‘Elye‘wun (Swordfish), her involvement in cultural resurgence includes the practice of traditional crafts and native plant use. Professionally, she has worked for 25 years with governments and tribes to provide mediation, facilitation, and training in many topics, including historical trauma and government consultation. As a volunteer, she advocates for tribal participation in processes affecting tribal interests. In 2014, she received the distinguished Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award, given to indigenous leaders for dedication to their culture and work to improve economic and environmental conditions of their homelands and people.
Board Member
Mia Lopez
Chumash Cultural Educator