WE COME FROM THE WATER

It’s 8:10 on a rainy Thursday morning, and we’ve got the break all to ourselves. Looking up and down the beach through the fog and drizzle, all we can see for company is driftwood – perfect for an early morning fire. Wetsuits still damp from yesterday’s surf, the kids stay near the blaze as they suit up, but after a minute or two, they work up a healthy sweat. A few of the youngsters require two adults to help get the thick neoprene over their heads. Some of the other little surfers end up in oversized wetsuits, but they’ll be alright. The water isn’t as cold as you might expect for southeast Alaska. During the summer, the current from Japan pushes water temperatures into the mid-60s.  

The kids range from seven or eight years old to high-school age. Some are siblings, some cousins. Some are visitors whose parents grew up here in Yakutat and are back for the summer. The Yakutat community is predominantly Tlingit, indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Gloria Wolfe, who is running point for the surf camp, is Tlingit, born and raised in Yakutat. She’s the mom of two boys in the camp and is professionally involved in the Native Wellness and Community Health Center. She’s also a lifeguard. Before the kids get in the water, Gloria gathers them around the fire with instructors, parents, and other community elders to level set. Gloria and the rest of the team take time each day to get the kids in the right headspace before entering the water, to reconnect with their Tlingit identity and the cultural significance of the water while also learning ocean safety. There are a lot of hazards up here. Just today we have a whole new log and root system in the lineup: The tides are extreme, the waves are big, and the water is cold.

I’ve come to understand this community has experienced a lot of loss with the ocean. It’s both personal and important to everyone on the beach that the kids hear about the elders’ experiences and understand the water conditions. One camper’s mom told me that she lost her father to the water, so she was hesitant to have her kids in the ocean. But with so many instructors and parents, she felt this was the right way to do it. “When you’re out fishing, in an instant you can be radioing for help and fully relying on your training,” adds Ralph Wolfe, Gloria’s husband, who’s a fisherman, and today, a camp instructor.

“The water is a really strong spirit and impacts everything on this planet,” Gloria reminds the surfers, still adjusting their wetsuits. “When we access the water, we are careful with our intent and with our energy. Everything that we are comes from the water, and as a fishing community, we keep a high respect for the ocean.” 

I remember the first time we had the camp, how emotional it felt to have all those kids out there. I wanted to cry out of sheer happiness from seeing the kids blossom and grow. Gloria sums it up this way: “This was so needed not only because of COVID, but also just as an indigenous group of people who are coming through an awakening. It's really powerful hearing about all these boarding schools that are finding all these kids … My grandmother went to boarding school, and her trauma is in me. She never intended to give me that. All of these indigenous kids are dealing with generational trauma in some aspect, whether it's something that the world recognizes or not.” 

In addition to bringing boards and kid-sized wetsuits to this year’s camp, my buddy Eddie Donnelan and his co-founder, Tim Gras, with the MeWater Foundation, also bring their experience working with at-risk youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve known Eddie for a long time, and I’ve volunteered with the kiddos when he brought MeWater down to Santa Barbara where I live. While the kids here in Yakutat face some different risks than the kids in the Bay Area, the therapeutic benefits of being present in natural surroundings still have an impact. 

“Eddie and I started working for a mental health agency 20 years ago, and we saw the amazing benefits the ocean and a wild setting can have for kids and adults who experience trauma or challenges in their life,” explains Tim. Being in the ocean, the waves are breaking, and you have to be in the moment. It’s a tool to clear the mind and hit the reset button. Not to mention, there’s no instance where surfing isn’t recreational. It’s an amazing way to enjoy the natural environment, and for youngsters, it builds confidence and independence. 

The kids are antsy to get in the water, so Eddie, Tim, I, and a few others make it quick with our surf instruction. Finally, they’re off. Some of the smaller kids grab boogie boards and run for it. Some of the littler ones go hand in hand with an instructor on longboards, and most of the older kids confidently grab a surfboard and paddle out. This is the third year of surf camp for many of them. Yakutat Surf Club, as it’s officially titled on community posters and camp t-shirts, was founded in 2019 to help get the local kids surfing the amazing little breaks they have in Yakutat. Gloria tells me that before the camp was formed, some of the kids would come out and play in the water until their teeth started chattering, which might only be an hour even with the sun out. 

“PEOPLE FROM CALIFORNIA WOULDN’T CONSIDER THIS A BEACH DAY. IT’S HARSH AND COLD, AND THERE’S QUITE A BIT OF SWELL – BUT WE’RE PRACTICALLY DRAGGING THE KIDS OUT OF THE WATER FOR LUNCH.”

But with wetsuits, these kids are out here all day. It’s awesome to see: Some are in the surf getting smashed by waves, others are playing in the tide pools and whitewash for all eight hours of the camp day. People from California wouldn’t consider this a beach day. It’s harsh and cold, and there’s quite a bit of swell – but we’re practically dragging the kids out of the water for lunch, a home-cooked meal provided by some parents. Today it’s a pork stew with pineapple over rice, enjoyed around the driftwood bonfire. 

The whole community shows up in different ways throughout the day, from helping kids suit up in the morning to serving lunch to cleaning up the beach at the end of the day. In the Yakutat Tlingit community, kids are raised with a whole town of aunties and uncles – as Gloria puts it, “Our kids are loved and parented by all.” 

In small, remote towns it’s easy for kids to get stuck inside with their phones and video games. And with COVID, a lot of recreational opportunities were canceled. Surfing gives these kids another outlet to play outside, connect to their culture, and see one another through new lenses.

As we’re organizing the wetsuits, booties, and boards at the end of the day with all the parents (and aunties and uncles), there’s a palpable joy in the stories the kids are telling about the day. They laugh about getting pounded by the waves and celebrate each others’ wins. They’re exhausted but excited for the next day’s surf camp. 

Gloria and Ralph stick around to make sure all the campers have a way home. “This camp is a complete blessing. Some of our youth who maybe haven't found their strengths in other things have found it in surfing. Maybe it's giving them an outlet in their future when they don't know where to go, and they can just head out and surf,” says Ralph. 

“Working with our youth, we're always trying to strengthen that base of cultural pride,” adds Gloria. “We want them to really feel that, hey, it's amazing to be from Yakutat. And it's amazing to be Tlingit, and the skills and the gifts that we have are something to be celebrated.”