Inspiring people to live in harmony with our Earth again.
Bridging Chumash culture, wisdom, and values with present day protection of natural and cultural resources.
Protecting the environment by looking through the eyes of the Ancestors.
Our dream grew from humble beginnings to become a movement, a place, an organization - inspiring people to live in harmony with our Earth again. Our world is out of balance. Wishtoyo’s work is dedicated to protecting the environment, preserving Chumash culture, educating future generations on what it means to be in relationship with the environment, and mobilizing First Nations Peoples.
Wištoyo (wish-toh-yoh) is the Šmuwič word for rainbow. Guided by the wisdom of our Indigenous ancestors before us, we serve as a “rainbow bridge” connecting communities and spaces by advocating for and and restoring ancestral Chumash lands, waters, and food systems. Utilizing traditional Chumash knowledge, values, and lifeways, we connect to the land and water that sustains us. Wishtoyo’s unique educational programs give the opportunity for students to experience this connection to place and increase awareness of their belonging in the natural world. Utilizing Indigenous-centered values and practices, our children will be the ones to continue the work needed to bring our world back into balance.
Together we can build the future for our children and our children’s children. Together, we can be part of the solution, a part of the change, and carry forth the vision of the ancestors in order to live in a more harmonious, peaceful, and sustainable world.
“We are more than environmentalists, we are practitioners of nature.”
- Mati Waiya, Founder & Executive Director
As practitioners of nature, we realize that our species does not exist in isolation from the biosphere; rather, our fate and that of our children and the future depend on it.
Learn more about our exciting work!
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![Mati Waiya standing inside the sil'i'yik teaching a group of students.]()
Programs
Wishtoyo’s education programs are an integral part of our organizational commitment to building informed, inclusive, and engaged coastal communities, beginning with the youth - our future stewards.
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![Two interns standing by a water source collecting scientific data.]()
Get Involved
From beach clean-ups to watershed monitoring to restoring native landscapes and food systems, there is much work to be done.
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![A California condor in flight over mountains with wings spread.]()
Advocacy
Like the condor who sees all from above, we understand the way all living things are connected. Wishtoyo is dedicated to the restoration of ecosystems that have nourished the Chumash people for millennia.
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![Chumash men dressed in traditional regalia dance in a circle at Wishtoyo Village.]()
Culture
We protect and preserve Chumash culture and Indigenous lifeways through cultural regeneration, the arts, community wellness, and gatherings for Indigenous groups and the general public.
