President

Bruce first became part of the AVIM community when he and his wife joined the original docent training class in 1981. Bruce and Stevie Love volunteered extensively throughout the 1990s, but then they left the Antelope Valley, returning in 2003. Long-timer Anne Kittlitz invited Bruce to join the board in 2021, and as he says, “Here I am, President of FAVIM, eager to bring vim and vigor (would that be AVIM and a-vigor?) to our mission, to support this unique and precious museum.” He and Stevie live in Juniper Hills.

Bruce can be reached at president.favim@gmail.com

Vice President

John Martin has been a California State Parks docent, volunteer, and a FAVIM Board Member since 2009. His education included Antelope Valley College, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Phoenix, Pepperdine University, and the Don Martin School of Radio and Television Arts, resulting in degrees supporting Anthropology, Archaeology, Geology, and Communications. Of partial Native American ancestry, John holds Board of Director positions at multiple non-profit organizations.

Treasurer

Nancy Park is a licensed EA & a partner at Computer on Wheels, Inc. She has practiced accounting and tax preparation in the Antelope Valley since 1986. In her youth she was a Peace Corps volunteer, living in Micronesia for five years and traveling extensively. In her semi-retirement she has found a love of carpentry and quilting. Though she grew up in the Midwest, she has come to love the high desert and is looking forward to supporting the Indian Museum.

She can be reached at computeronwheels@gmail.com

Native American Liaison / social media co-chair

Kat High is a non-enrolled Native Californian of Hupa descent. She is the past Chair of the American Indian Scholarship Fund of Southern California. She served as the Director and Program Coordinator for the Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center for over 15 years. Kat is an advisor to the Satwiwa American Indian Cultural Center, The Autry National Center, and a board member of the Friends of the Antelope Valley Indian Museum, and the Sacred Places Institute. Kat is a member of Neshkinukat, the California Indian artists network. Neshkinukat includes visual, performance, traditional and media artists.

Kat has a degree in ethnomusicology, and produced several benefit concerts for Indian causes, at the Theatricum Botanicum, Haramonkgkna , and clubs in the Los Angeles area. She produced 4 albums of Native flute music for Daniel Cecil Hill, a Cayuga flutist and flute maker. She is also the founder of Giveaway Song Productions, and produced several award-winning documentaries on the connections between California Indians and Native Hawaiians, and over 200 public access TV programs on Indigenous culture.

Native American Liaison / Gift Shop (Jewelry) / social media co-chair

Gift Shop (Books)

Charles grew up by the Los Angeles River and has been a resident of the Antelope Valley since 1989. He has been a factory worker, a ski instructor, a Fulbright scholar in Ethnopoetics in Papua New Guinea, and an Artist-in-Residence with the National Science Foundation in Antarctica. The author of 19 books, Charles is Professor Emeritus at Antelope Valley College and manages the books half of the museum gift shop.

He can be reached at: charleshoodbooks@gmail.com

Board Member

Director Emeritus

Darrell served as the director of the Photography and Media Facilities at CalArts for more than a quarter of a century, and was Technical Faculty in the School of Art Program in Photography.

Director Emerita

Ann Kittlitz visited the museum as a little girl in 1944 when Grace Oliver showed her and her parents around. When the museum became a state park, Anne was in the first docent training class of 1982 and she stayed active in docent and volunteer training and other committees and was FAVIM Board President. In 2023, after 42 years, she stepped down and was voted emerita status in recognition of her extraordinary service.

Website Maintenance

Newsletter Editor

Uma Ginsburg Bikel is a journalist, foreign correspondent, poet, and public speaker. She has lived in Israel, India, and the United States, and her work has been published worldwide. Uma teaches courses on the ancient mother God of the Hebrew people and speaks to audiences about her work and life experiences, and about her late husband, Theodore Bikel.

Board Member

Nadiya Littlewarrior (Potawatomi / Cherokee / Nez Perce) is an artist based in Southern California. She grew up in the Texas and credits her mother and grandparents for her artistic education. Ms. Littlewarrior founded Spirit Vessels Studio in 1993 and has served on the boards of multiple nonprofits. She has won many awards, and her gourd art is collected around the world. About her art, she says “the Gourd People offer me many lessons and blessings. The fine art of gourd as my canvas has brought me to a place where true spirituality is a major part of my life. The offerings that you see in my art are part of my life, part of my heart, and part of my soul.”