We Are
Culture Expanse
For our purposes, we define culture as the way we live our lives each day and the activities we fill our lives with.
Our culture changes, grows, and expands each day in our play, our work, our learnings and beliefs, our environment and geography, our ecology, biosystems, politics and economy. As these facets change and grow so does our cultural understanding.
Culture is history and philosophy, universal truths and human commonalities, ancestral knowledge and application in todays world. The old and new and the connectivity of it all. Our goal is to create and expand our culture to bring us to our ultimate good health and well being.
The Founders:
Debora Montoya
Founder
Debora Montoya
Debora is an activist, artist and lifelong member of the Denver Chicano community. She has been most privileged to practice her Indigenous traditions throughout her life. She was raised during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s and 70’s and ultimately became a High School Social Studies Teacher. She has spent the last 40 years cultivating and creating the Culture Expanse concept which includes the 6th Sun Calmecac, using a traditional learning and teaching model to weave the knowledge of our ancestors into our modern daily lives.Today, she offers classes in Xicano History, Culture and Philosophy to a broad Indigenous community. She co-directs Kalpulli ColorAztlan Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec dance group in the Northeast Denver community. “All Literacy is Cultural Literacy”- Debora Montoya
Phyllis Cano
Co-Founder
Phyllis Cano has been facilitating traditional indigenous ceremonies as an Aztec dancer since 1980. She has worked as a birth and death doula and continues to answer the call to community. She is co-founder of Culture Expanse LLC Art and Culture community organization. She has recently completed a four year apprenticeship journey with Strawberry Moon Energetics. She has stepped onto her path as a Maya Cosmology Priestess Initiate, through Kapulli Oxlahu Ochoch Tzikin (The House of the 13 Eagles).She has been able to incorporate her Maya healing work into her lifelong walk as an Aztec dancer through Kalpulli ColorAztlan Quetzalcoatl and the 6th Sun Calmecac. Phyllis is the lead Malintzin (keeper of the smoke) for Kalpulli ColorAztlan. She is looking forward to sharing her knowledge of healing energies with her community in the years to come. “The Curandera Who Walks With Clarity.” -Phyllis Cano