Paddle Tribal Waters

The First Descent of the Klamath River

When the largest dam removal in history begins, a group of indigenous youth learn to whitewater kayak in hopes of becoming the first people to paddle the restored river from source-to-sea. As the young paddlers reconnect sections of the Klamath River that have not flowed freely for more than a century, they use kayaking to galvanize a movement while reconciling a stolen history and building a future of hope and healing.

Salmon populations in the Klamath have almost died out because they have been unable to return to their spawning headwaters. In 2024, when the dams are removed, the first generation of recently spawned salmon will make the inaugural trip to the sea alongside the young kayakers.

For centuries, dams have displaced indigenous communities, submerged ancestral territory, and eliminated traditional food sources. Damming free-flowing rivers is detrimental to bio and cultural diversity, and contribute to climate change through the release of under-reported methane.

Paddle Tribal Waters is a positive way to celebrate the removal of the Klamath dams and support the sovereignty of the Klamath Basin tribal nations by ensuring that more of their youth have a voice in the dam removal process.

Watch a short film about the inaugural year of Paddle Tribal Waters

Program Launch

In July of 2022, Maqlaqs Paddle Club with the support of Ríos to Rivers, World Class Kayak Academy, and Otter Bar Kayak School conducted a two-and-a-half-week kayak and river advocacy training program for 15 indigenous youth from the Klamath Basin. The program continues with weekend kayaking trips and kayak roll training sessions.

In the summer of 2023, 16 additional youth will participate in the 2.5 week long beginner program. The first year cohort will continue to develop their kayak and advocacy skills with a series of trainings.

In the fall of 2023, the two cohorts will then be combined, and will participate in a semester-long kayak training and high school program with World Class Kayak Academy. The semester-long kayak and high school program is key to setting these students on the path to truly having the skills needed to make the first descent of the Klamath.

The long-term vision of the Paddle Tribal Waters program is to support the youth who participated in the first descent of the Klamath to go on to create tribally led river programs in their communities. Paul and Ashia Wilson from the Klamath Tribes led by example by creating Maqlaqs Paddle in 2018 after their first exchange program with Ríos to Rivers. Maqlaqs Paddle is a kayak club for Klamath Tribes youth based in Southern Oregon.

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Film about Paddle Tribal Waters

Additionally, in collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Rush Sturges, and Ríos to Rivers Chief Storyteller Paul Wilson, we will film and document the participant's journey as they develop their kayak and advocacy skills and prepare for the descent. The film will serve as a compelling way for the story of the restoration of the Klamath River to reach larger audiences and serves as a tool to show the importance of protecting free-flowing rivers and the un-damming of dammed rivers. The film also provides an opportunity for the students to speak at film festivals and other community events, elevating their voices and raising their profiles as activists in the global push to protect free-flowing rivers.

Are you a student interested in participating in Paddle Tribal Waters?

Paddle Tribal Waters is a program of

With generous support from