Iván Alexander de León Aguirre

Iván Alexander de León Aguirre is a Lipan Apache language-keeper, anthropologist, lecturer, and artist. He is an official representative in the Mexican state of Coahuila of the Lipan Apache band of Texas. Lipan people in the USA and Mexico have for generations hidden their identity for fear of genocide, and Iván Alexander de León Aguirre is one of the first to profess his identity and fluency in Lipan.

Life and work De León was born in the Mexican state of Coahuila, on traditional lands of the Lipan, in the Arteaga Mountains.

His school-education was in Spanish,

In 2018, De León founded the asociación Nación Ndé. As of 2022, De León was actively involved in seeking recognition for the Lipan people as an Indigenous people in Mexico. a few months later, Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas acknowledged the language, rating it as at "muy alto riesgo de desaparición" ("very high risk of disappearance"). An online biography says thatHe pioneered the organization of Apache gatherings and festivals, which united Apache communities on both sides of the Mexico-US border. He has also established lasting relationships of cooperation and brotherhood with numerous Apache nations and tribes, including the Jicarilla Apache Nation of New Mexico, the San Carlos Apache Tribe of Arizona, the Mescalero Apache Tribe, the Plains Apache Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Lipan Apache Band of Texas.