Blog

Indigenizing Outdoor Recreation

April 5, 2023  |  community mentorship, decolonization, indigenous communities, indigenous leaders, kids in nature, native like water, outdoor recreation, ríos to rivers, time outside, youth development, youth recreation
A group of teens stand holding upright surf boards on a beach
Photo courtesy of Native Like Water

Due to historical and present day forms of racism, including the legacy of colonialism, many Indigenous communities do not have access to the same services and resources as predominantly white communities. Indigenous youth, like all kids, benefit from recreation programs that support their growth and development while affirming their identities. While programs for Indigenous youth don’t always receive the funding, acknowledgement, and research support they deserve, there are many excellent programs led by and designed for Indigenous people. Historical policies that caused the forcible removal of Native youth from intergenerational communities and families to place them in boarding schools still resonate in some modern adoption practices. This pattern of taking Indigenous youth out of Indigenous communities makes Indigenous mentors, youth leaders, and culturally-centered programs all the more critical.

An adolescent carries a surfboard on a beach
Photo courtesy of Native Like Water

Native Like Water is one NRF grantee actively engaged in this important work. The Native Like Water program was launched in 2014 out of the Young Native Scholars initiative (established 2000) designed to promote academic support, holistic wellness, and cultural connection among native youth. Native Like Water specifically focuses on water-based recreation and coastal conservation through the Indigenous lens of a sacred relationship between humans and water. Native Like Water programs include recreation activities like surfing, STEM-focused curricula related to conservation sciences, and wellness and nutrition support focused on native foods and practices.

A group of people on rafts hold up signs protesting a dam
Photo courtesy of Ríos to Rivers

Another NRF grantee working in the Indigenous youth programming sector is Ríos to Rivers. Ríos to Rivers builds outdoor recreation skills, promotes community among Indigenous youth, and fights to protect the integrity of river systems. Youth participants learn about river recreation through paddling instruction and advocate for the protection of rivers under threat from damming. NRF funding supports the Paddle Tribal Waters program, a kayaking and youth leadership program which prepares Indigenous youth from the Klamath Basin to paddle the undammed free-flowing river as the rightful people to make the “first descent” in 2025 after the dams are removed. Participating youth will camp with tribal communities along the way and end in an inter-generational celebration where the Klamath meets the Pacific Ocean.

People stand in a river holding kayaks
Photo courtesy of Ríos to Rivers

Chief Storyteller of Ríos to Rivers, Paul Robert Wolf Wilson, reflected on his experience with outdoor recreation saying, “Paddling has given me a way of experiencing rivers outside of just showing up to protect rivers’ health or for our traditional food systems. To also be able to recreate on my ancestral waterways inspires great joy and returning a relationship of recreation for tribal youth on their waterways means a strengthening of our cultural identities going forward.” Ríos to Rivers is making similar experiences of joy and restoration through paddling possible for lots of Indigenous youth through its programs.

An overhead view of a river in the forest
Photo courtesy of Ríos to Rivers

Whether paddling, surfing, testing water quality, or protesting a proposed dam, Indigenous youth can build meaningful connections within their own communities and across borders through intentional and supportive recreation programs. The best youth recreation programs focus on fostering a sense of agency, community, and culture, as much as they focus on technical skill development. All youth should have access to programs in which they feel proud and connected to their identity and culture, rather than ashamed and isolated. Native Like Water and Ríos to Rivers are just two of the many organizations working hard to make this a reality for Indigenous young people.

NRF understands that equitable support of outdoor recreation programs means that funders need to be intentional in their support of Indigenous leaders working to create these culturally-relevant opportunities for youth, even if it means shifting traditional philanthropic practices and timelines to make it possible.