Our Roots

The roots of White Buffalo Land Trust reach back to the year 2001, when two White Buffalo were born into a herd in Colorado. The buffalo calves were sisters and intended for sale to a casino until a group of Oglala Lakota relatives asked Lyndsey McMorrow and her mother Bobbie McMorrow to consider caring for and protecting the two buffalo on their land in Santa Ynez, California. Chumash and Lakota relatives gathered and gave instructions on how to look after the two calves.

“The white buffalo are a reminder of our responsibility to the Earth, and to be in better relationship with all living beings.”

— Lyndsey McMorrow, Visionary & Inspiration for WBLT

Dedicated to this responsibility year after year, Lyndsey and Bobbie looked after the White Buffalo and heard the continuing call to heal relations with the earth and in our communities. This call to serve led Lyndsey to a deep affinity for the developing work of regenerative agriculture. In 2016, Lyndsey participated in the Lead with Land program at the Paicines Ranch in California, which catalyzed her affinity into action. Unfortunately, Lyndsey’s health was deteriorating as her desire for action was growing. The intertwined destinies of Lyndsey and the White Buffalo Sisters continued; in November 2017 the first Sister passed on, followed by Lyndsey three months later in February 2018.

Soon after Lyndsey's passing, her husband Steve Finkel, with the support of her mother and father Bobbie and Bill McMorrow, founded White Buffalo Land Trust to fulfill the work Lyndsey inspired during her life. Two years later in 2020, the second White Buffalo Sister passed on. The Sisters' reminder and the legacy of Lyndsey McMorrow's never-ending love live on in the work we do, and continue to inspire people to action.

The Trust now serves as a leader in Regenerative Agriculture in our region and a connected hub in the growing global effort. The White Buffalo Land Trust is an invitation to participate in the regeneration and healing of the earth, and the heart.