Our Worlds

06/27/2025

So grateful to Choctaw Code Talkers Association and everyone who came out for this. We are honored to be able to help spread the word about this important story. Yakoke!

06.21.25 Virtual Reality was a HIT during our interactive sessions both in and outside of the FAM Theater! Thank you to everyone who showed up and spent time honoring our heroes. It was an educational experience—with a twist!

05/13/2025

Rest in Power, Brandie Taylor. We will miss your wisdom, guidance, and friendship. Your presence uplifted so many in the community.

May your spirit journey well. 🔥

03/10/2025

The ride continues. The land remembers.

Congratulations to Cannupa Hanska Luger on the premiere of G.H.O.S.T. Ride, debuting at this weekend.

Go behind the scenes in XR360º with a recording from studio with the support of . Experience it on the OurWorlds app this week.

🔗 Download now – link in bio.

11/28/2024

We asked 7 Indigenous artists and filmmakers across the country what they would make today if they had the tools we use for OurWorlds. We can’t wait to see what they come up with. Big thanks to our fellows. Big thanks to our friends at Agog for believing in our vision. Our world just got a little bigger.

04/02/2024

We are thrilled to announce that we received a WDC 2024 and The City of San Diego Community-Driven Design Grant! OurWorlds, Inc. is one of 17 incredible organizations and businesses that will receive a portion of the total of $550,000 in grant funding.

This grant program is a partnership of and the , and funding for the grant program is made possible by the City of San Diego.

This grant supports our art installation, “Before There Were Borders” which highlights the 4 languages indigenous to this region, north and south of the border: Kumeyaay/Kumiai, Kuupangaxwichem/Cupeño, Payòmkawichum/Luiseño, and Cahuilla with bold, large-scale murals and immersive reality experiences developed in partnership with amazing community partners including .rodriguez.988373, Dr. .rodriguez.1, , , Ed McEnespy, Faith Morreo, and Rosie Aranda.

Many thanks to our project partners Rob Wellington Quigley, Bay to Park Paseo - and special thanks to our fiscal sponsor, Media Arts Center San Diego. We are especially grateful for the wonderful team at San Diego Public Library, who are helping support our mission of innovating ways to connect Indigenous knowledge systems with library knowledge systems.

Celebrate with us and the rest of the incredible grant recipients:

Casa familiar,
OurWorlds, Inc.
The Design Academy, Inc
Art Produce
Blindspot Collective
California Lawyers for the Arts
Poetic Justice
Project [BLANK]
San Diego Jazz Ventures
The Art of Jazz
The David’s Harp Foundation, Inc.
Berry Good Food Foundation
Here & There/ Aquí y Allá
Outside the Lens
San Diego Craft Collective
San Diego Environmental Film Festival

Read the official press release: https://lnkd.in/gFhrqfTt

03/26/2024

SXSW 2024 was such a blast! Thank you and for supporting “Chief” and our mission.🌎

03/13/2024

SXSW Film Festival: Our latest XR Production, “CHIEF”, is in competition this week at the SXSW film festival. American Indian Tribes broke the glass ceiling of female leadership, long ago. The strength of our community is a result of the connection between motherhood and leadership. Nurturing a community with soft-skills like listening and compassion. For me the production is special because of the story around Female Chiefs. This film was developed for the all new Apple Vision Pro.

SXSW 2024 Schedule | There are 575+ sovereign tribal nations in the U.S. today, each governed by a Chief, Chairman or Chairwoman. Meet dynamic tribal leaders in this XR360º experience developed for VisionPro, from interviews with powerful Chairwomen, to one of the youngest Chairmen ever elected, to...

03/10/2024

Angela-Elliott Santos has been the Manzanita Tribal
Chairwoman since March 2015, filling the position
vacated by the death of Leroy J. Elliott, Manzanita Tribal
Chairman for 17 years. Chairwoman Santos had served
the same 17 years on the Manzanita Executive
Committee, advising the Chairman and serving as Fiscal
Officer for the Tribe. She directs all Tribal Departments
including Public Works, Education, Library Services,
Telecommunications, Natural Resource Management,
Tribal Historic Preservation, Renewable Energy, Housing,
Cultural Programs, and Language Revitalization. She also
provides guidance for federal funding that supports
many of the tribal government programs such as U.S.
EPA, BIA, HUD, and USDA.

She has fought for many years for cultural and heritage
resource protection within the Kumeyaay Homelands
from the Pacific Ocean to the Colorado River and over 75
miles north and south of the international Boarder with
Baja California, Mexico. Chairwoman Santos has battled
to protect the inherent sovereignty of the Manzanita
Band as a federally recognized Tribe and to protect those
that cannot speak for themselves but are protected by
the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Chairwoman Angela Elliott-Santos serves on the Board of
Directors for many organizations including the Southern
California Tribal Chairmen’s Association (SCTCA),
Southern Indian Health Council (SIHC), Intertribal Court
of Southern California, Kumeyaay Cultural Repatriation
Committee (KCRC), and the Kumeyaay Heritage
Preservation Council (KHPC).

Ms. Elliott-Santos is celebrating 30 years of marriage to
Santiago de los Santos and is the proud mother of four
children, and four grandchildren.

See Chairwoman Elliott-Santos in our newest film “Chief” at 2024.

03/09/2024

Erica M. Pinto has been involved with the JIV Tribal Council since 1997, becoming a Council Member at the age of 21. Serving for more than 23 years on the Council, she was appointed Vice Chair of the Tribal Council in 2008. In 2015, she was the first woman elected Chairwoman of the Jamul Indian Village, an honor she proudly holds today.

Since becoming Chairwoman, Ms. Pinto has lead JIV through significant economic progress on their path to self-reliance. In April 2016, JIV signed an agreement with San Diego County that cleared the way for a world-class gaming facility to be constructed on their reservation. In August 2016, along with the Tribal Council amended the 1999 compact with California. In October 2016, Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego opened, creating nearly 1,000 permanent jobs for members of the Tribe and the surrounding region. As part of the Tribe’s commitment to self-reliance she was instrumental in negotiating and representing the Tribe with its local agreements that will provide more than $100 million public benefit and safety for the residents of San Diego County. She continues working to expand the Tribe’s land base and increase economic opportunities.

Ms. Pinto is committed to giving back to her community and to future generations of Tribal members. She is co-founder of the Acorn to Oaks tribal program, which organizes activities focused on culture, youth development, health and fitness, and technology – all designed to help prevent drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, as well as to promote education and family togetherness. She hopes to build pride in future tribal leaders, so they respect their native heritage.

Born in El Paso, Texas, Ms. Pinto grew up with her three brothers on the Jamul Indian Village reservation and Viejas reservation, where she witnessed the hardships on her people. Her mother, who has been active in Tribal government for several decades, instilled in her the importance of respecting our ancestors and giving back to the Tribe, lessons she carries with her to this day.

See Erica in our newest film “Chief” at 2024.

03/08/2024

Brandie Taylor (Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel) has served on Tribal Council for 18 years. She was first elected as Vice-Chairwoman at the age of 28, then eventually ran for the Legislative Branch, and more recently as Chairwoman. She has served on the Inter-Tribal Court of Southern California, Kumeyaay Cultural Repatriation Committee, Warner United School District Board, and Donate Life & WomenHeart. Vice-Chairwoman Taylor is active in her community with her son, Hunter Banegas, who is a champion Bird Dancer and sings with the Santa Ysabel & Vieja’s Bird Singing Group “Ashaa Takook”. Together, they travel all over California, Arizona and Nevada for Traditional Gatherings.

See Brandie in our newest film “Chief” at 2024.

02/27/2024

Our newest and most immersive film yet, CHIEF, premieres at 2024. We’re endlessly grateful to the voices that created this film. CHIEF is our first film to be developed exclusively for Vision Pro.

Be the first to experience CHIEF, March 10-12 at the SXSW Film & TV Festival.

Featuring Chairwoman Angela Elliott-Santos, Chairwoman Erica M. Pinto, Chairwoman Lynn Valbuena, Former Chairwoman Brandie Taylor, Chairman Cody Martinez, Chairman Robert Smith, and Former Chairman Chris Devers

Co-Directed and Produced by Kilma Lattin & Catherine Eng

11/30/2023

Founder Kilma Lattin and advisory board member Sal Kimmich, stretching minds at the University of California, San Diego Inter-Tribal Resource Center .xr