Mary Westbrook Rivers, President

Mary Westbrook Rivers is Ho Minti Society’s President. She serves as an elected Councilperson of the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb and is co-chair of the special events and fundraising committees for the Tribe. She works as the Civil Deputy at the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office. She has been active in culture and tribal governance since youth when she was active with the Rising Sun Youth Group.

Amy Martinez Garcie, Vice President

Amy Martinez Garcie, DNP, is Ho Minti Society’s Vice President. A lifelong resident of Sabine Parish and daughter of Larry and Erma Martinez, she serves as education coordinator for the Choctaw Apache Tribe of Ebarb. Her husband of more than three decade, Donald Garcie, is a Traditional dancer, her grandson is a champion Grass and Chicken dancer, and she is a Jingle dress dancer.

She has been a Registered Nurse for 32 years and has worked in various levels of clinical leadership as well as education. She currently works from home as a Clinical Triage and Tele-Emergency Care VA nurse. She has a passion for educating our youth on the traditional ways of our culture. She teaches youth powwow dance and is the coordinator of Ho Minti Society’s regalia closet.

Pam Cartinez, Treasurer

Pam Cartinez is a founder of Ho Minti Society and its Treasurer. She is a former councilperson for the Choctaw-Apache Tribe, the owner of Family Stitch embroider, and the founder and director of Las Cabezas, Inc.

Robert Caldwell, Secretary

Robert Caldwell is a co-founder of Ho Minti Society and its Secretary. He is Assistant Professor and Graduate Director in the Department of Indigenous Studies at the University at Buffalo. His first book, Choctaw-Apache Foodways, received an award from the Louisiana Folklife Commission, and he was named culture bearer. He splits his time between home (Louisiana) and work (New York) and enjoys playing Kabutcha Toli (Choctaw stickball).

Rhonda Remedies Gauthier

Rhonda Remedies Gauthier (Adaeseña / Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb) is a current Director of Ho Minti Society. As a young girl growing up near Zwolle, Louisiana, she began learning traditional arts such as crochet, embroidery, hand sewing, quilting, cooking, baking and animal tending from the women in her immediate and extended families. Her grandmother in particular taught her midwifery and the use of natural herbs to treat common ailments and herb gardening. After earning a B.A. in Anthropology and History from Northwestern State University, she worked in research, genealogy, and history, first as a part-time cultural interpreter at Fort St. Jean Baptiste and later as a full-time interpretive ranger at Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes and Fort Jesup State Historic Site, and in the Louisiana Regional Folklife program. She was named a Louisiana Tradition Bearer by the Louisiana Folklife Commission.

In 2005, she produced the film Maize to Masa, which documents the Choctaw-Apache process of nixtamalization, a traditional maize preparation in which dried kernels are cooked and steeped in an alkaline solution to make hominy and tamale dough. In 2021, Gauthier worked with the Sabine Parish Tourist Commission and Zwolle Depot Museum Board to ready the Depot Museum. Since 1994, she has worked closely with the Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb, consulting, researching genealogy, writing grants, working with the Rising Sun Youth Group, and serving on powwow and federal recognition committees. She is a past President of the Ho Minti Society, where she served for eight years.

Laurie Longoria-Myrick

Laurie Longoria-Myrick is a Director and our point person for Houston and Southeastern Texas. She is honored to be a member and support the mission of HMS preserving and celebrating Native Culture. She is a regular participant of N’de community events in Mexico where she continues to learn, connect with others, and honor our shared heritage.

Scierra LaGarde

Scierra LeGarde is from the Bayou Lacombe Band of Choctaw and a resident of Bvlbancha, commonly known as New Orleans. She is the Indigenous collections and program manager for the Bayou Lacombe Museum and is a member of OHIH (People of the Sacred Medicine Trail), which is a network of Indigenous gardeners working urgently to develop the continuation of long-standing cultural practices connected to food, medicine, and land. Scierra is also in her seventh year of learning palmetto basket weaving.

Margaret S. Kilcoyne

Dr. Margaret S. Kilcoyne (Choctaw-Apache of Ebarb), retired Dean of the NSU College of Business and Technology, brings over 34 years of experience in education, marketing, management, and technology. In her roles at NSU, she managed degree programs, worked with students and stakeholders, and secured external funding. She seeks to promote the cultural awareness, service, and education of our history and heritage. Helping improve the community can have second- and third-order effects on everyone’s life and on the community's perceived value.

Timmothy and Linda Dennett

Timmothy Dennett (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) and Linda Dennett are board members and local co-coordinators for the Shreveport-Bossier area. Timm was raised in North Carolina, the eldest of five boys of U.S. Marine parents. He served in the US Air Force and retired as a Senior Master Sergeant in 2015. He is a native flute maker who learned from Keith Bear (Hidatsa) and a gourd dancer active in both Kiowa Tiah Piah Society and Gulf Coast Tiah Piah. He is point-person for HMS Stickball in North Louisiana. Linda helps lead regalia-making classes and is part of the Culture Camp committee.

Margaret Fegan (CAToE) serves as Ho Minti Society’s language coordinator. She is an actress, musician, writer, producer and mixed-media artist.

Sebastian Ellington Flying Eagle Ebarb (CAToE) is a writer, designer, educator, Teaching Professor of Design at Northeastern University, and the founder of Nahi, a design studio focused on accessible, community-rooted work. His creative practice is grounded in Native identity, care, and cultural connection—especially for those living in urban settings. He is the writer of Big Moon, a children’s book to be released in 2027. He redesigned the HMS logo and serves as chair of Ho Minti Society’s Digital Library and Archives Committee.

Leon Perniciaro (CAToE) is ABD in the Department of English at the University of Connecticut. He is editor of Haven Spec Magazine and serves as both webmaster and editor of Ho Minti Society’s newsletter.

Vickie Holbrook, LMT (past director, CAToE) is a retired massage therapist and licensed horticulturalist. She completed training in horticulture and was a Louisiana Master Gardener. She maintains seasonal food gardens and forages edible plants. She first learned about plants and nature from her grandfather, George Remedies. She is a longleaf pinestraw and river cane basketmaker, and a traditional rugmaker. She loves sharing knowledge and teaching crafts to those serious about learning.

Gabrielle Patterson, Ed.D (CAToE) serves as Southeastern Grasslands Institute’s historian, specializing in environmental, natural, and Indigenous history. Her research focuses on the historical distribution of grasslands in the Southeastern United States, exploring how landscapes and environmental conditions influence human activities. Her work integrates primary and secondary sources to document the historical grassland ecosystems in SGI’s focal region, thereby advancing SGI’s mission to Save the Forgotten Grasslands of the Southeast.

John W. Procell is the traditional Chief (Mikko) and former two-term chairman of the Choctaw-Apache Community. He is a a US Army Veteran and served in active combat during the VIetnam Conflict. He enjoys fishing and raising a garden. He is a gourd dancer and former delegate to the National Congress of American Indians. He is has been honored throughout Turtle Island for his leadership and service.