A group of young Indigenous paddlers have completed the first source-to-sea descent of the Klamath River since the removal of four dams along the river. The group kayaked over 300 miles from the river’s headwaters in Oregon all the way to its mouth, where it dumps into the Pacific Ocean near Crescent City, California.
“We did it! The first full descent of the Klamath River—from source to sea—is complete!” wrote Ríos to Rivers on Facebook. “310 miles of river, paddled by Indigenous youth from the Klamath Basin after the largest dam removal in history.”
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Over 30 Indigenous youth paddlers completed the feat, which is now possible for the first time in a century. For these youths, the dam-removal project was more than just an infrastructure project; it was reclaiming the land of their ancestors. By paddling down the free-flowing Klamath, they were symbolically reclaiming the river, too.
Check out some social media posts about the Klamath River paddlers here:
Here’s a video showing day 30—the day the Indigenous paddlers (and everyone who came with them) reached the ocean:
Header stock image of the Klamath River by Elis Cora/Getty Images