Kwiáht was incorporated in 2006 to offer local, participatory scientific research for sound stewardship of the San Juan Archipelago – and to strengthen science education in our communities. Kwiaht works with scientists and students from San Juan County and the Salish Sea as a research co-operative.

Amongst other projects, Kwiáht works with public land managers to identify, map, and develop conservation strategies for the islands' botanical legacy. For example, Kwiáht is mapping the genetic and varietal diversity of the most important plant traditionally cultivated by Coast Salish peoples: Camas (Camassia spp), which today grows wild on more than 50 islands in San Juan County.

In the main Coast Salish language of Puget Sound, Kwiáht is a spiritually clean place.