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We're thrilled to announce that our next cohort of Indigenous River Youth Guide Training is about to launch, and it’s going to be our best one yet! Building on the incredible experience from our 2022 training and the insights gained from our last cohort and amazing team, we're leveling up with more mentorship, more hands-on learning, and way more time on the rivers.
The Dinjii Zhuh River Guide Training program is rooted in our Elders’ teachings, which guide us to return to the land — our true school. Out on the land, we learn by listening to our Elders, mentors, the water, and the land itself, with our hearts, minds, spirits, and bodies.
After years of fighting to protect the Peel Watershed, many youth realized they lacked opportunities to be on the land, learn from it, and apply land-based skills to a career. This issue exists not only in the Yukon but throughout Northern communities.
This program aims to break down barriers and create opportunities for youth to learn skills like flatwater and whitewater canoeing, rafting training, wilderness medicine, and whitewater rescue. It also focuses on building self-esteem, leadership, and self-determination, while centering Indigenous languages, knowledge, and traditions.
By training Indigenous youth to become wilderness guides, we strive to share the benefits of tourism more equitably with the original land caretakers. Strengthening their connection with the land creates a broader network of land protectors across the North. The goal is to showcase the beauty, power, and importance of Indigenous land and youth — and to highlight the deep connections between them.
SILENT AUCTION COMING SOON…
What our Guides Are Saying
“In the last couple of years I have been guiding, I would say that the mandatory certifications have been more helpful- because it has been beneficial to find the confidence and expectations of the water and finding self efficacy.
I myself always feel growth in knowledge when doing SRT, First Aid, and moving water padding courses/training.
100% having elders and people from communities is such a blessing, especially engaging with the land.
— Onadee, 2022 IYRGT participant & guide
The guide training has helped me to experience my culture by being out on the land in nature, where things are not so easy but with time and teachings.
I’ve gained confidence in myself and my abilities. I am forever grateful to Dinjii Zhuh Adventures for helping me gain much needed skills in the industry, as well as the connections made for a lifetime.
I’ve had the privilege of being able to paddle our beautiful rivers, alongside our breathtaking lands. With this training I began to find myself and who I am as a dene man. Traveling amongst my ancestors who have paddle these scared rivers for time and immoral.
— Chase Yak’eula, 2022 IYRGT participant & Guide
I’m so grateful to have participated in the Indigenous Youth River Guide Training. I learned so much from this program and it has brought me to where I am today. I learned important practical skills like whitewater canoeing and rafting, river rescue, wilderness first aid, cooking meals, outdoors, navigating the land and the water, and so much more. On top of this I learned traditional knowledge from elders, stories and legends from the land where we are travelling,and most of all to be proud of my culture, where I come from, and the strength I have as an indigenous person and woman.
To be surrounded by other indigenous youth on the land while learning how to share it with others is truly such an empowering thing. Through the help of multiple leaders, mentors, teachers, and elders I was able to learn the skills and knowledge I needed to share my love of the land with others, and join the community of outdoor leadership and tourism as well as help other indigenous youth experience the joys and teachings of river trips. I found such a great passion in river guiding, and this program gave me everything Ineeded to be an educated and confident river guide, and for that I am truly grateful