Natalia Bautista Chávez is a Mixteca cultural leader, educator, and community advocate based in Santa María, California. Born in the Mixtec town of Abasolo del Valle in Veracruz to parents from San Juan Mixtepec, Oaxaca, Natalia grew up as part of a migrant family deeply rooted in Indigenous language and culture. Her first language was Mixteco, which she learned at home long before she acquired Spanish. Though she later moved through Spanish-speaking environments, her connection to Mixteco remained strong, and she considers language to be a living part of her cultural identity, which can be reclaimed and revitalized through reconnection.

For nearly two decades in Santa María, Natalia has been a key figure in preserving and strengthening the cultural life of the Oaxacan diaspora. She plays an active role in planning and celebrating the fiesta patronal of San Juan Mixtepec, viewing it as a deeply meaningful moment of reunion for migrant families. For her, the fiesta is a gathering point for communities scattered across the United States, a chance to maintain ties with people from the pueblo and reaffirm a shared identity across generations and geography. These celebrations also serve as tequio, where collective labor and cooperation reinforce the values of responsibility and belonging—even far from Oaxaca.

A passionate advocate for cultural continuity, Natalia sees identity as something carried through memory, practice, and daily life through language, music, and dance. One of her strongest cultural influences has been the chilena, a traditional musical and dance form of the Mixteca region. Though chilena music was rare during her childhood, she was captivated by its sound and movement from a young age. Dance became a family legacy: her father, a devoted dancer, often dressed in traditional carnival costumes, and her children have also grown up as danzantes, participating in Mixtec dances like los diablos, los rubios, and la danza del carnaval. Natalia herself performs these dances and has helped reshape traditional roles by taking on characters historically performed by men, such as the catrín and ya’che, expanding the space for women in cultural performance. She describes how women in her community have pushed past conventional boundaries to assert their presence as dancers and carriers of tradition, embracing performance as both a cultural right and a means of expression.

Natalia speaks openly about the contradiction between women’s central yet often unrecognized roles in community life. While women have long managed households, organized events, and passed down traditions, their leadership has not always been acknowledged in formal or public ways. She challenges this imbalance by calling for greater visibility and participation for women—not just in the home, but in political, artistic, and cultural arenas. Through her own example as a dancer, organizer, and advocate, she shows how women can inhabit roles that were once closed to them, reshaping tradition without abandoning it.

Beyond performance, Natalia has long worked in media and education, contributing to Radio Bilingüe and its flagship program Línea Abierta since the early 2000s. Through this platform, she helps amplify Indigenous voices, share cultural knowledge, and support the transmission of values and practices across generations.

At the heart of Natalia’s work is a belief in the resilience of community: that identity does not fade with migration but transforms and flourishes through connection. She challenges narratives of loss by centering resistance, continuity, and pride—evident not only in how she speaks, dances, and organizes, but in how she invites others to do the same.

Natalia’s life and work offer a vital example of how indigenous traditions can thrive in migrant contexts, not as traditions of the past, but as living, evolving forces shaping contemporary identities. Through her efforts in dance, language, and community organizing, she ensures that the spirit of San Juan Mixtepec continues to blossom in California’s Central Valley and beyond.