Paddle Tribal Waters 2024 Update

2024 is the biggest year yet for Paddle Tribal Waters as our students gear up for the first descent of the newly freed Klamath River in 2025.

Paddle Tribal Waters Academy

Launched in January 2024 in Alto BioBío region of Chile, 13 youth from Klamath River Basin tribal communities embarked on five months of kayaking and academic studies, traveling throughout Chile and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. An Indigenized high school curriculum was developed in collaboration with World Class Academy and three Indigenous members of the Ríos to Rivers team.

This extraordinary intensive experience will equip students with the river and expedition skills necessary to become the first group to paddle the Klamath River in its entirety once it is freed of dams.

Traveling throughout Chile and the US for a whole semester Jan-May

Paddle Tribal Waters goes to the white house!

The April 23rd White House Water Summit provided a platform for PTW students Ruby Rain Williams and Keeya Wiki to share their experiences and insights regarding the critical importance of freshwater conservation and restoration efforts, particularly in Indigenous communities.

Ruby Williams, a lifelong resident of the Klamath River basin, expressed her deep connection to the river and the profound impact of environmental degradation on her community: "I have lived on the Klamath River my entire life, however, I've never ever been allowed to swim in it. My home river has always been too sick." Ruby's poignant words underscore the urgent need for action to protect our nation's waterways. Ruby also highlighted the devastating decline in salmon populations and its impact on Indigenous culture and health: "Salmon is one of our first foods, and so it is sad to see how we cannot have salmon at ceremonies or our family gatherings. It used to make up 50% of our proteins as Karuk people, and now, it makes up hardly any.

Keeya explained, "Historically, before the dams, our tribes were river travelers, using hand-built canoes to move up and down the river for commerce and transportation. The main goal of the program is for Klamath River basin native youth to lead the first-ever whitewater kayak descent of the undammed Klamath. In training for the first descent, we are reconnecting with our heritage and our river."

The America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge is a Biden-Harris Administration effort to conserve and restore America's rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands. With ambitious goals to protect millions of acres of wetlands and thousands of miles of rivers by 2030, the initiative emphasizes collaboration between federal agencies, states, Tribal nations, and local communities.

Read the press release HERE

PTW TAKES THE SPOTLIGHT IN WASHINGTON D.C.

FEBRUARY | 2024 NATIVE YOUTH LEADERSHIP SUMMIT IN WASHINGTON D.C.

Paddle Tribal Waters students and staff attended the 2024 Native Youth Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., from February 12-15, 2024. The youth summit was hosted by the National Congress of American Indians, bringing tribal nations from across the country to convene at the U.S. Capitol.

During this summit, they attended events and trainings such as the State of Indians Address, receptions by Deb Haaland (United States Secretary of the Interior), Democracy is Indigenous Training, and other conversations centering Indigenous resiliency and needs. They also presented a poster depicting the Klamath Basin, focusing on access and management of our homelands and explaining why our relationships with our lands and waters are critical and must be respected and protected. Outside the conference, our students visited several tourist attractions and national monuments, including the National Museum of American Indians.

We want to thank our friends at the Rural Voices for Conversation Coalition for funding our travel and participation in Washington DC! Thank you so much for supporting our tribal youths access to events so critical to tribal communities across our country.

And an appreciation for our two PTW students, Kimora Vanpelt and Isqots Scott, for taking space in Washington D.C. and standing with their voices and beliefs to protect our peoples nationally!

APRIL | RECITING POETRY IN THE KENNEDY CENTER

PTW student Carmen Ferris was invited to recite her powerful poem “I Come From A Place Called Hoopa” at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in early April. The poem had won the Redwood Writing contest for 7th and 8th graders.

Read “I Come From A Place Called Hoopa” here.

ENGAGING IN THE NATIVE YOUTH CLIMATE ADAPTATION LEADERSHIP CONGRESS (NYCALC)

This June, Ríos to Rivers’s Klamath Program Coordinator Amada Lang brought Indigenous youth to Shepherdstown, West Virginia, to engage in the Native Youth Climate Adaptation Leadership Congress (NYCALC)

CohortS 1 + 2 Deschutes Trip

A week-long paddling program for PTW students took place in June on the Deschutes River in Oregon.

In July 2024, 15 new students were welcomed to the Paddle Tribal Waters community with a two-week kayak and leadership program held at Otter Bar Kayak Lodge in the Klamath River Basin.

Cohort 3

Raft Guide Training

A group of Paddle Tribal Waters alumni will participate in a raft guide program this summer.

Whitewater and Medical Certifications

PTW Students will take part in American Canoe Association Swift Water Rescue and Wilderness First Responder certification courses.

Crossing paths with Ríos to Rivers’ Bolivian and USA programs

Paddle Tribal Waters Academy’s journey to Chile coincided with Ríos to Rivers’ other two programs– Kayakimün, focused on river advocacy for Mapuche-Pehuenche youth in Chile (the Biobío is their home river), and the Amazonian Rivers Initiative, a program for young Indigenous leaders in Bolivia. Normally taking place in their respective countries, having all three programs in the same place at the same time allowed for powerful interactions where an immense amount of collective knowledge was accessed and shared along the banks of the Biobío River, cross-fertilizing experiences and passion for protecting rivers.