The name Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) was chosen nearly 30 years ago to reflect the heart of our mission: protecting marine turtles and other marine species while honoring ancient creation stories, Indigenous wisdom, and the global reverence for turtles as symbols of life.
Why “Turtle Island”?
“Turtle Island” appears in the creation stories of Indigenous peoples around the world. It is central to the oral histories of several Native North American nations, including the Haudenosaunee, and also appears in ancient Hindu cosmology and the traditions of Indigenous peoples of Papua New Guinea, among others.
Across cultures, the turtle is revered as a sacred being—an embodiment of wisdom, endurance, and the interconnectedness of all life. Its deep relationship with the Earth makes the turtle a powerful symbol of both biological and cultural diversity.
By incorporating “Turtle Island” into our name, we seek to celebrate this shared global heritage and to honor Indigenous peoples and Indigenous knowledge systems that recognize humanity’s responsibility to care for the living world.
Why “Restoration”?
Protection alone is no longer enough. While safeguarding intact ecosystems remains critical, humans have profoundly damaged many of the life-support systems on which the planet depends.
“Restoration” reflects our commitment to repairing what has been broken—to restoring ecosystems, species, and ecological processes essential to a healthy Earth.
Turtle Island Restoration Network began as the Sea Turtle Restoration Project at the Earth Island Institute, founded by legendary environmentalist David Brower. Brower spoke passionately about the need for Conservation, Preservation, and Restoration (CPR). Including “Restoration” and “Island” in our name is a tribute to his enduring wisdom and advocacy.
Why “Network”?
Real change happens collectively. “Network” recognizes that TIRN’s mission can only succeed through collaboration—among people, communities, scientists, advocates, and organizations united by shared values and a common purpose.
More About the Turtle Island Creation Stories
In many Indigenous North American traditions, Turtle Island refers to a world carried on the back of a great turtle. Through this lens, the turtle represents life itself—or that which sustains life.
“Turtle Island” Indigenous Art Print by Patrick Hunter, Ojibway.
What is remarkable is that similar creation stories appear across cultures separated by vast distances and thousands of years. Turtles have long served as a bridge between humans and nature, grounding spiritual belief in the living world.
Ancient Hindu mythology tells of the Earth resting on a turtle’s shell, supported by four elephants.
1877 drawing of the world supported on the backs of four elephants, resting on the back of a turtle.
In Papua New Guinea, Indigenous stories recount a giant sea turtle creating the island and carrying the first humans there to live.
A Papua New Guinea folk tale.
These stories—emerging independently across continents and millennia—underscore the universal significance of turtles in human understanding of the Earth’s origins.
Turtle Islands in Our Work
There are also striking geographic connections to our name. The founder of TIRN began his conservation career working in the Dry Tortugas, a remote archipelago 68 miles west of Key West, Florida. The islands are named for the abundance of nesting sea turtles (“tortugas”)—and the lack of fresh water that earned them the label “dry.”
Today, another key focus of our work is Cocos Island, Costa Rica, sometimes called “Turtle Island” for its importance to green and hawksbill sea turtles. This tiny, remote island lies 350 miles off the mainland in the Pacific Ocean. Never permanently inhabited by Indigenous peoples, and only briefly settled by Europeans, it is now a protected Costa Rican National Park and a vital refuge for marine life.
Following the Pacific leatherbacks journey from its feeding areas off the coast of California to its nesting ground in Papua resulted in a partnership with Wences Magun, an inspiring local leader who we helped found Mas Kagin Tapani Association (MAKATA) — meaning “Sea Guardians” in the local Takia and Bel languages of Madang.
In our efforts to save other critically endangered sea turtles such as the Kemp’s ridley and leatherback, our advocacy efforts have historically and currently remained focused on major threats to sea turtles, which are also causing havoc on multiple marine and terrestrial species such as direct harvest of endangered species, unsustainable industrial fishing, and extraction of and burning of fossil fuels.
Honoring Indigenous Lands and Knowledge
Our headquarters in Tocaloma, California, and much of our local restoration work are located on lands that were stewarded for thousands of years by the Coast Miwok people before being taken from them more than a century ago. These lands—including villages such as Tocaloma, Etcha Tamal (Nicasio), and Etcha Kolum (Tomales Bay)—remain sacred to the Miwok people today and contain burial grounds and other culturally significant sites.
We honor and support the Coast Miwok and other Indigenous peoples in their efforts to reclaim their history, culture, and sovereignty. We seek to learn from and uplift traditional ecological knowledge and to incorporate Indigenous perspectives as we work to restore ecological function and heal damaged landscapes.
With our name, Turtle Island Restoration Network, we aim to recognize, revere, and celebrate Indigenous wisdom and culture—and we hope it is understood in that spirit, not as misappropriation, but as respect and responsibility.
