{"id":27063,"date":"2022-06-04T10:00:29","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T17:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=27063"},"modified":"2022-06-13T11:28:03","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T18:28:03","slug":"river-warriors-paul-robert-wolf-wilson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2022\/06\/04\/river-warriors-paul-robert-wolf-wilson\/","title":{"rendered":"River Warriors: Paul Robert Wolf Wilson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt’s such a radical action to take, to be able to play.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Paul Robert Wolf Wilson, a Klamath and Modoc Tribal Member lives on the Wood River in the small community of Chiloquin near the headwaters of the Klamath River. The Klamath flows through his ancestral homelands of Southern Oregon and Northern California.<\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s voice takes on a quiet reverence when speaking about the lands and waters he calls home. This morning, like most, he went for his morning run and then post holed about a mile and a half through crunchy spring snow to the headwaters of the Wood River to fill up his seven-gallon jug of water from the spring. Once home, Paul hops in the river for a frigid cold soak.<\/p>\n

\u201cHearing the birds above, feeling that water and the big old snowflakes, that brought me the most joy today,\u201d Paul said with a smile. He laughed and added, \u201cThere’s nothing to feel but present when you’re in 35-degree water!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Paul is a photographer and the chief storyteller for R\u00edos to Rivers<\/a>, an organization that invests in underserved and Indigenous youth who are intimately connected to their local waters and supports them in building the next generation of environmental stewards. Founded in 2012, R\u00edos to Rivers exchanges have connected more than 200 youth from 19 endangered river basins in seven countries and community leaders from 13 Indigenous nations.<\/p>\n

Paul said it\u2019s vital for communities, specifically Indigenous youth, to not only have access to their homelands and waters but also to have access to the joy that comes from playing in those special places.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat ability to go and play in these places that we hold sacred, it ensures that relationship is still genuine,\u201d he says. \u201cCommunities like my own haven’t had access to play. We’ve actively been removed from our lands and waters.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s something Paul and R\u00edos to Rivers aim to shift. And their vehicle of change? The kayak.<\/p>\n