![\"Kayakers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/EL5SDL2LQNDI5F3HWND3U2X444.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHoopa Valley tribal member Julian To:Nikya:w Rogers, 16, paddled through dense fog toward the mouth of the Klamath River in Northern California alongside dozens of other Indigenous youth.<\/p>\n
As he pushed through the final yards of the 310-mile journey, he saw a huge crowd of community members cheering and waving at the finish line \u2014 where the river pours into the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople along the whole riverbank cheered us on,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was such an awesome feeling for me, to see how many people were there to support us.\u201d <\/p>\n
Rogers was part of a historic kayaking journey that started at the headwaters of the Klamath River in Southern Oregon on June 12 and traveled the entire length of the river, ending July 11 in Requa, California on the Yurok Reservation. The trip passed through the free-flowing river at the four sites where dams were taken out in the country\u2019s largest dam removal project. <\/p>\n
OPB\u2019s \u201cOregon Field Guide\u201d team joined the paddle for multiple days to create the documentary \u201cFirst Descent: Kayaking the Klamath.\u201d <\/p>\n
Parents, cousins, siblings and relatives alike celebrated as the paddlers, ages 13-20, appeared through the fog. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was sad that a whole month had passed by so quickly. It was so much fun,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cBut I was also excited to go home. It was a super hard journey.\u201d <\/p>\n
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Kayakers with the Paddle Tribal Waters program paddle through fog in this video still taken July 11. A blanket of fog covered the river just before the paddlers reached the ocean in Requa, California after a 30-day, 310-mile journey down the Klamath River. <\/p>\n
Brandon Swanson \/ OPB<\/p>\n
More than 20 young kayakers in the program landed their kayaks on the sand, jumped out and ran into the ocean to celebrate. <\/p>\n
The nonprofit Rios to Rivers and its program Paddle Tribal Waters organized the expedition, which was the first source-to-sea descent of the Klamath<\/a> since the removal of J.C. Boyle, Copco 1, Copco 2 and Iron Gate dams in 2023 and 2024<\/a>. <\/p>\n It took years to prepare the 28 teens for the journey \u2014 some of them traveling to places like Chile to learn not just how to kayak, but also about river health and the effects of dams worldwide. <\/p>\n Participants say the journey was about much more than just kayaking. The paddlers are honoring more than a century that their ancestors spent fighting against dams on the Klamath and advocating for a healthy river.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first descent meant a lot to me,\u201d said Coley Miller, 14, who is a citizen of the Klamath Tribes, Modoc and Klamath. \u201cWe traveled from the headwaters of the Klamath River all the way to the mouth, and it was rough but worth it because our c\u2019iiyals [Chinook salmon] are home now; it felt like we led them home.\u201d <\/p>\n Miller said her grandfather was a leader of the Klamath Tribes who devoted a lot of his life to protecting treaty resources, including water, Chinook salmon \u2014 known to the Klamath people as c\u2019iiyals \u2014 and c\u2019waam and koptu, also known as the Lost River and shortnose suckers. When the dams were built on the Klamath River, they wiped out all of the salmon in the homelands of the Klamath and Modoc people. Since then, the resident c\u2019waam and koptu have been listed as endangered species.<\/p>\n \u201cI am happy that I was able to kayak with my cousins on the Klamath River, which my grandpa and many other ancestors worked to free,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Coley Miller, citizen of the Klamath Tribes, begins the 300-mile Klamath River journey near Chiloquin, Oregon in this video still taken June 12.<\/p>\n Brandon Swanson \/ OPB<\/p>\n Standing in front of their community members in July, the paddlers, guides, program directors and tribal leaders had the opportunity to stand up and speak about the trip.<\/p>\n \u201cThis whole trip was a love letter to our community,\u201d said Paddle Tribal Waters staff member Danielle Rey Frank, of the Hupa and Yurok tribes. \u201cIt was a letter of gratitude and thanks to you guys for doing all the work to get the dams down and to keep our rivers safe.\u201d <\/p>\n Frank looked out at the crowd, some of whom played important roles in dam removal. <\/p>\n \u201cThis trip was also a promise,\u201d she said. \u201cWe promise that we will do whatever we have to, to protect our river.\u201d<\/p>\n Danielle Frank of the Yurok and Hupa tribes speaks to a crowd of community members in Requa, California on the final day of the Klamath River descent in this video still taken July 11.<\/p>\n Evan Rodr\u00edguez \/ OPB<\/p>\n For some, the work is far from over. <\/p>\n Many of the youth have been speaking at conferences and events, bringing attention to the negative effects of dams. <\/p>\n \u201cSometimes in the summer, I can\u2019t be in our rivers because of poor water quality,\u201d Miller said, noting that two dams still remain on the Klamath River<\/a> near her home territory in Southern Oregon. <\/p>\n \u201cI hope for the two dams to come down so our fish can swim home in a free river. I hope for our waterways to become clean again so our ancient c\u2019waam and koptu relatives can live without struggling to exist, and so our c\u2019iiyals can come home without hurting themselves getting over those dams.\u201d <\/p>\n![\"Coley](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/E5SODHKJWZDYJAKFNFPEO33QGM.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Danielle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/447GXECRERFFDOUKAKONCFCYDY.jpg\")
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