Nolan Deck
If there’s anyone who deserves the opportunity to explore and take advantage of the coastlines in this country, it’s the people who’ve lived here long before anyone else. The All Are We Water Collective (AAWWC) agrees with this sentiment, which is why Kelly Potts founded the organization in order to work with Tribal and Indigenous communities to teach and create outdoor educational and recreational programs.
The organization, of course, if focused around surfing. Beaches and water access have become more and more restricted through development and tourism, keeping indigenous communities out of a sport growing to be more and more White dominant. AAWWC aims to assist in providing surfing access and education to these indigenous communities.
“And I said, ‘You know what I’m gonna need to do? I’m gonna need to take a road trip, and I’m gonna need to see what are the good places that are conducive for teaching surfing.’ It was when I got into that Northwest territory that I started to recognize all the Indigenous communities out here that are near the coast. And it really was very obvious who I would wanna host my retreats for.” – Kelly Potts to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
AAWWC is looking for multiple people to fill volunteer roles for a bunch of upcoming events. If you’re interested and think you might be of use, you can learn more here. If you can’t volunteer, you can help support the organization through donations, which you can do here.
Image Credit: Oregon Public Broadcasting via YouTube
