We Are on Native Lands: Stories of Elder Marika Alvarado in Austin, Texas (2025)

We Are on Native Lands: Stories of Elder Marika Alvarado in Austin, Texas is a 2025 short documentary video on the Native history of what has become central Austin––where the University of Texas at Austin is located. Through the narrative of elder Marika Alvarado (Lipan Mescalero), this documentary particularly focuses on the history of the lands now occupied by Pease Park and the surroundings of West Campus.

The video was produced under the guidance of elder Marika Alvarado (Lipan/Mescalero), with the leading participation of Luis E. Cárcamo-Huechante (member of the UT Austin faculty) and Marina Islas (Austin History Center) as principal investigators, and Mauricio Hernández Serrano (RTF Graduate Student, UT Austin) as director, with the assistance of Evie Carr (Of the Earth Healing Institute of Indigenous Cultures and Teachings).

This research project and video production was sponsored by the Contextualization and Commemoration Initiative (CCI) at UT Austin and supported by the Program in Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) at UT Austin, the Austin History Center, and Of the Earth Healing Institute of Indigenous Cultures and Teachings–-a nonprofit led by elder Marika Alvarado in central Texas.

Click below to watch this powerful documentary. 

On March 24th, 2025, the NAIS Program was honored to host a premiere screening and discussion of the documentary at the University of Texas at Austin campus. The discussion and Q&A section featured key collaborators on the documentary project:

• Marika Alvarado | Lipan/Mescalero; Of the Earth Healing Institute of Indigenous Cultures and Teachings
• Luis E. Cárcamo-Huechante | Mapuche; Associate Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, The University of Texas at Austin
• Marina Islas | Apache; Outreach & Exhibits Manager, Austin History Center
• Evie Carr | Apache and Alabama-Coushatta; Of the Earth Healing Institute of Indigenous Cultures and Teachings
• Mauricio Hernández Serrano | MFA Student, Radio-Television-Film, The University of Texas at Austin
• Pauline Turner Strong | Director, Program in Native American and Indigenous Studies, The University of Texas at Austin

Click below to watch the discussion and Q&A.