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Tossi-Masso Molina Molina
Tohono O\'odham Community College | Ilíiaitchik: Indigenous Correspondents Program (ICP)
ContributorTossi-Masso Molina is a Yoeme, a member of the Pascau Yaqui Tribe, born and raised in South Tucson, Arizona, in the Barrio Libre Community, Capilla del Señor de los Milagros. He is passionate about Renewing Indigenous Knowledge; on his platform, he advocates for "Taking it back, Knowing our Roots, In what we came from," bringing in Yoeme resiliency.
Tossi-Masso is an undergraduate student at Tohono O’odham Community College who is on the verge of obtaining his Associate's degree in Liberal Arts. After obtaining his degree, he plans to transfer to a 4-year university for his bachelor's, where he will major in Environmental Health Sciences and minor in Indigenous Studies. His educational goal is to pursue a career as an environmental specialist addressing community issues and concerns. He is passionate about contributing and leaving inspiring ideas for the community or an institution to better support their program and protect their environment.
In the past three summers, he has worked with communities; he participated in the A Student’s Journey (ASJ) program in 2024 and interned with the Indigenous Resilience Center (IRes) at the University of Arizona. During his time with ASJ & IRes, he worked on an environmental research project on the flood path of the Black Wash restoration in the New Pascua community. IRes guided Tossi to collaborate with the Pascua Yaqui Tribe to develop a plan for the ecological restoration of the Black Wash. In 2025, he participated in the Sustainable Land and Water Resources Research Experience for Undergraduates (SLAWR REU), a community-based, tribally focused program in the Midwest. His research experiences at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities focused on the Manoomin/Psin (Wild Rice) project. He worked extensively with UMN researchers of the Manoomin Collaborative and engaged with the tribal communities of the White Earth Nation & Fond du Lac Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa in Minnesota. This summer, Tossi-Masso interned with the Rising Voices Changing Coasts (RVCC) 2026 cohorts at Haskell Indian Nations University. He learned about Indigenous Knowledge and sciences, Indigenous methods and methodologies, and a literature review of relevant Native scholarship. He traveled to the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico (Boriken) to engage with scientists, students, community members, and elders and learn about the ongoing coastal climate work being conducted in collaboration.
As an artist, Tossi-Masso's artwork reflects creativity through drawings, beading & short poems that connect his traditional roots in storytelling and song to his surrounding environment, the Huya Anina (WildernessWorld). He hopes his artwork and stories will inspire and uplift his Yoem Pueplos.
