Verlinda Montoya, RN

Verlinda Montoya, also known by her given Indian name, Mato Ta Pejuta Wakan Nawjin, (Mato Winyan), is an elder, medicine woman and spiritual leader from the Picuris pueblo of New Mexico. Her tribe is Northern Tiwa/Hopi and she comes from a maternal blood line of Medicine People. Adopted by the Lakota-Sioux tribe, she has been facilitating Native American ceremony (Lakota and Hopi) for over 20 years, conducting traditional Lakota ceremony under the guidance of Lakota medicine people. With a Master’s Degree in Health Education and Health Service Administration, Mato Winyan founded Heart of Humanity, the first agency in Marin to practice integrative medicine, and has received numerous awards for her work, serving as president for non-profit organizations and other boards, committees and diversity panels, as well as two appointed terms as Commissioner for the Marin Women’s Commission for the Novato District. She has also produced and hosted 20 TV productions and served as keynote speaker for over 40 organizations.