Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary
Wishtoyo is bringing health and healing to our waterways so that future generations can follow the clean waters of a river all the way to the ocean - sxamin.
CHNMS: Informed by Indigenous Science and Cultural Knowledge
The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary designation creates a special protected area informed by Indigenous science and cultural knowledge, building upon the relationship our people have nurtured with the ocean spanning a millennia. Covering over 134 miles of coastline, this designation would help support the health of our oceans, preserve the rich biodiversity of these delicate ecosystems, as well as protect ancestral Chumash village sites which are now under water. Wishtoyo is proud to support and advocate for this remarkable designation.
When our sacred spaces and resources are restored to Indigenous guidance, nature thrives.
As the original People of these lands and waters, we have a sacred obligation to do everything we can to advocate for our natural resources. Our sacred science is woven throughout our cultural history. This relationship to land and water creates an inextricable tie between our people and the resources that sustain us. This is why it’s crucial that our Chumash and Coastal Native leaders are heard, centered, and given permanent and equal power in decision-making and co-management of the ancestral ecosystems we have long been in relationship with. Chumash leaders need to have permanent seats at the co-management decision-making level with NOAA; a true tribal co-management includes serious, equal and progressive decision-making power in how our marine ecosystems are cared for.
We need to think critically about what this sanctuary designation means and who it impacts. There is so much say about Indigenous sovereignty and rights, the history and unhealed wounds of colonization, destruction of our natural and cultural resources because of greed and consumption. Above all, we strive to advocate for our ancestral waters and find ways to be inclusive of all Indigenous Peoples within the boundaries of this sanctuary. We are still here and our voices should be listened to and centered.
This conversation will be on-going, but establishing a protected area for this precious area of coast is a huge step towards protecting our ancestral waters and resources.
Our Advocacy Work
Wishtoyo and its Ventura Coastkeeper program play a vital role in ensuring that MPAs protect threatened marine wildlife and the integrity of ocean water quality throughout Southern California, with an emphasis on waters off the Channel Islands, Malibu, Santa Barbara, and the Ventura coast.
Tribal Co-Managed Marine Protected Areas
In order to enhance the effectiveness and implementation of Marine Protected Areas, we work with tribal groups to ensure Indigenous co-management that results in substantial cultural preservation benefits for Chumash and other First Nations Peoples. Wishtoyo is involved in multiple efforts to amend existing and future MPA literature in California. These include working on new legislation like the Marine Life Protection Act amendment that would: allow tribal access to South Coast Marine Protected Areas, preserve Indigenous rights to natural resources, continue sustainable and protective cultural practices, and provide input for recent updates to K-12 natural cultural resource curricula.
Through the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, Wishtoyo advocated to best ensure a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were established that protect the ecological integrity and fisheries of the Southern California Bight (SCB). A significant part of this effort was integrating tribal values and stewardship into the MPA designation process.
The solution within Chumash traditional territory: designating MPAs with tribal co-management components to Southern California’s marine ecosystems and fisheries are protected and restored, while preserving and learning from the Chumash culture that understands how to live sustainably with our coastal resources.
Wishtoyo extensively participated and provided input in the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative to help establish ecologically and culturally protective Marine Protected Areas through:
Hosting of SCRSG members, MLPA Initiative Staff, and representatives from the California Department of Fish and Game at Wishtoyo’s Chumash Village for a Chumash co-management presentation
Organizing South Coast tribes
Working with the Stakeholder Groups, Blue Ribbon Task Force, Department of Fish and Game, and the Fish and Game Commission
Advocating via Oral Testimony During Public Hearings and Stakeholder Workshops
Submission of Written Comments
The foundation of our MPA advocacy, which includes critical components to tribal co-management, was, and continues to be, Wishtoyo Foundation’s White Paper: Tribal Marine Protected Areas: Protecting Maritime Ways and Cultural Practices
In the South Coast MLPA process, our efforts, including the introduction and development of tribal co-management, helped result in:
The establishment of ecologically protective South Coast Marine Protected Areas (“MPAs”) to preserve the marine resources all cultures depend upon
Recommendations for the California Department of Fish & Wildlife to enter into MPA Tribal Co-Management Agreements with Tribes for the provision of MPA marine conservation public education/outreach programs and assistance with MPA implementation, pollution prevention, and enforcement
Provision of measures to best ensure MPAs allow for tribal cultural / religious practices and preservation.
Wishtoyo continues to work on MPA amendments to provide California Tribes full access to MPAs for cultural utilization.
Chumash Marine Lifeways: Land and Water Field Trip Program
In 2012, Wishtoyo launched its inaugural ocean conservation education program which taught the social and cultural importance of a healthy ocean environment to K-12 school children from Ventura, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara counties. Located at our Village in Malibu, Wishtoyo has served approximately 2,500 youth per year, a majority of whom are Indigenous and/or economically and politically marginalized.
Since it’s first iteration, we have redesigned the program curriculum to further weave Indigenous perspective and Traditional Ecological Knowledge with scientific study of local marine ecology to create the Chumash Marine Lifeways: Land and Water program. Students who participate in our CMLLW program gain an important perspective that they don’t often receive through a standardized curriculum. Wishtoyo's unique approach to integrating cultural perspective and marine science/environmental education lends a deeper meaning to the students that we serve, inspiring a new generation of ocean stewards. The Programs also incorporate Chumash maritime art, traditions, culture, songs, dance, history, and relationship to ancestral lands and water.
The overarching goal of this specialized program is to prepare youth, particularly those who are economically disadvantaged, minority and/or Indigenous, to be the leaders, scientists, policymakers, advocates of these precious natural places.
Our CML education programs continue to be a phenomenal success, instilling a marine conservation ethic in thousands of youth and educating participants on the importance of Indigenous perspective in understanding and cultivating a relationship with our natural world.
Please visit our CML Program page to learn more about how your community or school can participate.
