Anna Levesque
My guest today, Kia Wiki is a 17 year old indigenous kayaker from Ashland, Oregon. She belongs to the Yurok peoples of the Klamath River. And I’m gonna let her speak her peoples so that I do not…get it all wrong, Keeya.

Keeya Wiki Okay.

Keeya Wiki Thank you.

I also come from the tribes of Te Aupouri and Ngati Porou from Aotearoa, or New Zealand.

Anna Levesque Thank you.

Kia is dedicated to community organizing and advocating for her peoples.

In the summer of 2025, she completed the first descent of the freshly undammed Klamath River, along with fellow indigenous youth from the Klamath Basin.

Thanks for being here, Kia, and thank you for speaking your tribal names so that they were well pronounced.

Yeah, you’re welcome.

I’m excited.

Keeya Wiki Of course, thank you for having me.

Anna Levesque Okay, start with the same first question, which is when I say discomfort zone, what comes up for you? What does that mean for you? Keeya Wiki Yeah, for me the discomfort zone definitely, I feel it a lot in my body when I know I’m about to step into a situation where I might be a little uncomfortable.

I get really anxious and nervous and it’s very much in my chest and my stomach.

And I know, okay, I’m not comfortable with my body.

There’s really strong feelings about this.

That’s how I know.

Anna Levesque And when you have those strong feelings, what is your strategy? Well, first of all, it sounds like you listen, like you tune into your body.

And so when your body is speaking to you in that way, what is your strategy or what, yeah, what’s your go-to in those moments? Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Keeya Wiki when I know I’m in my discumrant zone, kind of honestly I kind of delays myself.

I say things I tell myself, okay, you know, I’ve done hard things I can I know I can do hard things.

I also just kind of, you know, I like to check if my body and take deep breaths or sometimes, sometimes before kayaking, I’ll just lay on the floor.

Anna Levesque Mm.

Keeya Wiki and like try to regulate myself.

Those are like things that work for me.

It’s just checking in and really seeing what I need and how I can kind of relax myself.

Anna Levesque you Anna Levesque Yeah, I love that.

What does, love the laying on the floor is, so what are you doing when you’re laying in the floor? Are you like breathing? Is that your way to totally relax? Is it like a meditation? What’s going on? Keeya Wiki you Keeya Wiki It’s, I just lay on the floor.

It’s very, um, it’s funny, like before a I’ll just kind of be on the floor, but it’s either like I’ll lay on my stomach or I’ll lay on my back.

And it really just helps like ground me and send to me, I think.

Yeah.

Anna Levesque Okay.

Anna Levesque Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I always find that grounding very helpful.

I’ve been laying on the floor because I’m healing a back injury.

And so it’s slightly different, although I will say it’s when I feel like physical pain.

And I started walking in the backyard, like very consciously, bare feet.

And I love walking bare feet and I’ve done it on and off.

Keeya Wiki Mmm.

Anna Levesque I realized I hadn’t been doing it for like a long time.

On river trips, I find that I barefoot a ton or yeah.

And it’s been really grounding to just have that practice even for 10 minutes a day, walking outside, barefoot, feet to the ground.

Yeah, it’s very nice.

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I agree.

Anna Levesque for sure.

So did you intuitively learn these strategies or did you have a teacher or a mentor who guided you to these strategies? Like breathing and laying on the floor, all that grounding.

Keeya Wiki I think I just started laying on the floor just with myself.

I just said, hey, let’s lay on the floor a little bit here. no, definitely like growing up.

I’ve definitely had, I don’t know, people in my life who have said, hey, Anna Levesque Mm.

Keeya Wiki I up going to a lot of like tribal council meetings for my people or like protests, a lot of advocacy work around the Klamath River and just kind of other general civil rights movements.

And I’ve always just had people, you know, be like, hey, here are ways to, you know, if you’re feeling uncomfortable or overwhelmed or stressed here, just some like basic, basic things you can do to help regulate yourself.

And so I kind of, yeah, I think I’ve always just kind of had guidance and, you know, people Anna Levesque Mm.

Keeya Wiki tell me and then once I started getting into kayaking through pedal trouble waters I definitely like found some really like I was definitely was a lot more aware of my discomfort zone and things that make me feel anxious and I kind of learned to a lot more specific ways like laying on the floor to help regulate me yeah Anna Levesque Mm.

Right.

Yeah.

And the breathing too is so, such a good practice.

So it sounds like you’ve been doing this work of advocacy for a while.

How many years have you been involved and how old are you by the way? I, yeah.

Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Keeya Wiki yeah, okay.

I’m 17.

And I’ve been, I mean, I’ve been doing it my whole life. like, ever since I was little, I’ve been, you know, going to marches or going to like, count like town, town council meetings.

And I’ve always kind of been like, very involved.

My parents are really involved in community organizing and really want to make sure our communities are safe and healthy.

I’ve kind of just Anna Levesque Hmm.

Keeya Wiki know, been taken along but I’ve definitely absorbed a lot of information and I’m really passionate about it.

Anna Levesque Hmm.

And have you found that finding your voice, being an activist and an advocate is uncomfortable? Do you find yourself in the discomfort zone in that work? Keeya Wiki Oh, 100%.

I mean, there’s so much about, you know, being a teenager too.

It’s like, I’ll be in spaces where like really, you know, big important decisions are happening or we’re talking about really, you know, big ideas that affect a lot of people. you know, I’m just, I’m 17.

I’ve been in spaces when I was, you know, 14, 15, 16.

And I’ve always felt like…

Anna Levesque Mm-hmm.

Keeya Wiki Oh, like, am I meant to be here? Do I have the right ideas? Do I even know what I’m talking about? Like, so much is going over my head.

Should I be in these? Should I be in these places? And I definitely like, I definitely I think is a part of my discomfort zone is like, just figuring out I guess how sure I am of like places I’m meant to be so Anna Levesque And what’s your answer? What do you come up with when you ask yourself, am I meant to be here? Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Keeya Wiki I just, I mean, I always just check with my values, but I’ve definitely like, yeah, like advocacy is a lot. can be a lot and knowing that this is something I want to do in my future. could definitely be overwhelming, but, I always just check with myself and my values and know that, okay, I am doing good work.

You know, a lot of it, I might not be necessarily contributing, but I’m learning and I’m growing and I’m, I’m helping shape my ideals.

I’m helping shape my ideals more.

So.

Anna Levesque Yeah.

Anna Levesque Mm-hmm.

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Anna Levesque Well, yeah, thanks for sharing that.

You know what I hear? Well, I’m reflecting on one, if you’re there, you’re meant to be there, you know, and…

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque It’s not, mean, so much courage to show up in these spaces, being, you know, young and maybe it’s, I don’t know, there might be messaging of like, yeah, maybe you shouldn’t be here.

Like, are you important enough? Are you old enough and all that? And to show up and find your voice takes a lot of courage.

And that’s really cool.

And the other thing that came to mind is that you say you might not be contributing.

However, my experience being present is a contribution.

Like being in the space, like you don’t always have to speak, you don’t always have to, you know, it’s just so interesting because yeah, it can be easy to have that self doubt of like, am I contributing? I didn’t say anything or I know sometimes for myself be like, did I say the right thing or.

Keeya Wiki yeah.

Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque I could have said this or I wish I had said this.

And at the same time, sometimes I don’t think we give ourselves credit for who we are at our core and just our presence being powerful.

Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque So when you’re in those spaces, and a lot of times we don’t even realize the impact that we have.

And we’ll never know.

Keeya Wiki No, and think that’s like, no.

And I think that’s an important message for you too is like, you know, it’s important just to be here and represent.

Anna Levesque Yeah.

What’s your favorite thing about doing this work? Keeya Wiki Oh jeez, I feel like I have so many.

I mean, I think my favorite thing about, I have so many.

Oh goodness, I think it’s, I think just the people I meet, like honestly, I’ve been in a lot of different advocacy spaces. mean, kayaking the entire Klamath River, like that brought a lot of people into my life and I’ve met a lot of people.

They’re there who like not only have given me incredible opportunities, but also have just like taught me so much.

And I had so many experiences to grow and to learn and to just kind of navigate spaces.

And I’ve also done some more like local community organizing and that has definitely like really opened my eyes to just like the community that I live in.

Because I’m involved, but you know, it’s easy to like.

Anna Levesque Hmm.

Keeya Wiki kind of be a little detached.

So I think just like really, like really, really, really just the people and how wonderful a lot of organizers and advocates are and just how open their hearts are.

Yeah, definitely the people.

Anna Levesque Mm.

Anna Levesque Yeah.

Yeah.

Tell me more about the first-fold descent of the undammed Klamath.

Tell me more about how that was for you and maybe some…

Was there any discomfort you were overcoming in being able to do that, in learning, kayaking, doing that tribal waters? Tribal Paddle Waters program and the trip itself.

Keeya Wiki Yeah, mean, was, I mean, kayaking the Interact with River with some of my like best friends was pretty, it was pretty fun.

But for the past two years, I’ve been training to kayak the river and I got to go to Chile twice and paddle some of my local rivers in Oregon and California multiple times to prepare for this.

Anna Levesque Yeah.

Anna Levesque amazing.

Keeya Wiki And I think the, you know, going into it, I knew like it was getting hard.

It’s a month.

It’s, it was one month.

I was with the same people for a whole month.

I was camping.

It was, I mean, there’s a lot of days where we just had to make miles.

There was the first week, five days was just flat water. which is like, I don’t love flat water paddling.

So that was really just like, Anna Levesque Yeah.

Anna Levesque Spoken like a true whitewater paddler.

Keeya Wiki Yeah, so that was just like, that was a rough kind of first couple, you know, getting, getting into it.

I was like, Oh God, this is gonna be so long.

But what I what I didn’t expect to kind of feel challenged by was knowing if I was meeting the expectations of others, because the Klamath River was able to be undamed because of tribal leadership and because of the the fighters before me and generations before me. mean, dam removal and fighting from the Klamath River has been, you know, it’s gone through generations.

It’s been, it’s been so prominent in my community and my upbringing.

And so every day when I got in the water, I was just like, am I, you know, am I doing justice? I mean, people have prayed for this moment.

Some of like the most hurt people have prayed.

And just like put in the most sacred words out to the universe.

Am I, you know, am I doing right by them? And so that was like definitely challenging and like something that, that only put me into my discomfort zone of like, God, now I’m like freaked out, but, geez.

But I think it was just, yeah.

Yeah.

Anna Levesque

That’s a lot of pressure. sounds like a lot of pressure.

Yeah.

Well, and a desire to honor those who came before you.

Yeah.

Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, so I Mean and there was so much I mean what helped though was like there was so much love and so much support and so much community just like appreciation and Joy spread for us and with us and so I Think that kind of balanced out or kind of soften the that discomfort zone a little bit

Anna Levesque Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Did you, like, did you have any daily rituals that you did when you were on the river at all to like, I don’t know, center yourself, like when you felt that if you were waking up and being like, am I doing this justice? Was there any strategy to like, you talked about grounding earlier.

So that might be one strategy, but something to Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque I don’t connect you to the place, to your peoples and help you feel like, don’t connect it, I guess.

Keeya Wiki always made sure- this is so corny- I always made sure to laugh.

This is so corny but I always always made sure to laugh because that was something that- I mean it’s such a privilege to get to laugh.

I did a roll.

Anna Levesque It’s okay.

I love corny.

I love it

Keeya Wiki I mean, it’s just such a privilege to experience joy on the river.

That’s not something that a lot of the people who came before me fought for this river and spent time on this river.

A lot of them didn’t get to.

I mean, they experienced joy, but it wasn’t it was like.

Anna Levesque Mm.

Keeya Wiki they couldn’t freely express joy or they couldn’t, you every time they’re on the river, they weren’t expressing, they weren’t like laughing and having fun.

Sometimes it was really scary.

And sometimes it was there’s moments where they weren’t sure if they would ever be able to fish again, you know, or exist on the river again.

So for me to get to be on the river, was like, okay, you know, like don’t, even if I’m having a horrible day.

Anna Levesque Mmm.

Anna Levesque Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

All right.

Keeya Wiki Make sure that I have fun and I have joy.

I do one little thing even if it’s like I do a roll or I do a little boof off a wave.

Just something to like, something just to have a little fun.

Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque Yeah.

I love that so much.

It’s just really powerful.

Thanks for sharing that.

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Anna Levesque Was it, did, okay, I thought when I was in Ruby’s, when I was talking with Ruby, did she mention, did you have an underwater experience on the river? I don’t want to messed up if it wasn’t you, but I’m pretty sure she was like, my best friend, Kia was pinned on a rock and that was really scary.

So I know, like you’ve said, I loved how you talked about like we’re boofing waves and we’re having fun and we’re like expressing joy.

And then, Keeya Wiki Yes I did.

No, yeah.

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Anna Levesque I’m just curious since she talked about it it was scary for her, what was your experience of that experience? Keeya Wiki Yeah, that was that’s so funny Ruby Ruby honored herself that she loves me she didn’t You know, we’ve we’ve done a lot of time together so we’re we’re pretty tight but to hear really say that I’m her best friend is quite quite a joy, but But yeah, so there was a within the first week Anna Levesque Hahaha! Anna Levesque Yeah.

Anna Levesque Yeah, nice.

Keeya Wiki of us into this descent, we were, it was our like first day of white water after the lakes.

And there was kind of just a general miscommunication.

And I was in, I was in the sweep group. was in the very back and I was in the back of my group.

And I saw two, like two good outcomes happen simultaneously.

And so I kind of just, so I followed, there was like two options. kind of I went straight rather than going right where I was supposed to and I got pinned.

And not just pinned but like, well, like pretty like just stuck.

And I was, and I was kind of, was on my, I was on my left side and there’s a rock right here and a rock kind of by my head and I planted my paddle pretty quickly and so my, I was, my head was above water but there was like water actively going over my face.

And so I was never, Anna Levesque Mm.

Anna Levesque Mmm.

Keeya Wiki completely under the water, I wasn’t, you know, I wasn’t in the, it wasn’t easy to breathe. wasn’t in a great spot at all.

And it was kind of like a, crap moment.

And then immediately like I had just had, you know, instructors running towards me and it was maybe 30 seconds of me kind of in this really uncomfortable, see really scary moment.

Anna Levesque Wasn’t easy to breathe.

Yeah.

Keeya Wiki And the whole, there’s, you know, like 15, 16 kids and everyone saw it happen and no one knew what I, what I was going through.

Cause I was pretty like kind of hidden.

And so when I got out, so a lot of people thought I was underwater when I really wasn’t, but it was like, when I got out, was just very quiet and surreal mainly because in training for the first descent, lot of us were so, mean, our kayaking progression is just so. monitored, I guess.

Yeah, monitored and just like really safe.

And we, I mean, we’ve all like, you know, we can goof off and play around, but it’s very like protected. so, this net, something like this hadn’t really happened to any of us before.

So this was really the first time where like, we all had this really scary moment.

And so I came out and it was just a good, you know, eye opener that, hey, this is a first descent.

Anything can happen.

Anything’s possible.

Anna Levesque Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque Hmm.

Keeya Wiki and we are in an extreme sport.

Like this isn’t, you know, this isn’t easy.

Like there’s really big challenges and it was, it was really scary for sure in the moment.

And then after the fact, everyone was really freaked out and scared by it. but I think it was a really good eye opener.

And I think a lot of people became a lot more safe and conscious with the way that they kayak after it happened as well and making good decisions and not.

I know some people chose not to some sections just because they really understood the risk factor of kayaking.

Anna Levesque Mm hmm.

Yeah.

What was your was there like a before like before and an after in your mind in your mindset of that happening? Relative to kayaking? Like was there a shift in your mindset after that incident? When it comes to kayaking? Keeya Wiki Keeya Wiki I mean, I think so.

I’ve always been pretty nervous and I’m a little scaredy cat when it comes to kayaking.

But I mean, definitely, definitely, I mean, I’ve always been aware that kayaking is a very extreme and risky sport, but.

Anna Levesque Thank Anna Levesque You can.

Keeya Wiki to really experience something so scary and see the impact that had on everyone else. did, my mindset going into kayaking was like, okay, know, scary things can happen, but I can get past it.

And I have people around me and people who I really trust and love and they really love and trust me with me.

So, yeah, I think it kind of, yeah, I really just.

Anna Levesque Yeah.

Keeya Wiki It really just affirmed that I have good people with me when I go kayaking. that…

I’ll…

Yeah.

Anna Levesque That’s great.

Yeah, I think it’s great that the way that y’all learned like in a cohort and you got to travel all over the world and you had great instruction.

I mean, that is so ideal.

I’m biased because I am an instructor and I’ve made my career as being an instructor and I just see so much benefit.

And I think it’s wonderful that y’all had that mentorship and weren’t just trying to go out there and wing it or, oh, Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Keeya Wiki yeah.

Anna Levesque You know, there’s sure there’s something to be said.

I’m sure some people listening are like, that’s how I learned.

I just went out with my buddies and that’s great.

If you have, know, you have that.

I also think that learning from the caliber of instructors that y’all had, which was amazing in the caliber of paddlers, like what an awesome experience, you know? And I think that, yeah, that hard moves in easy water and having that cruise so that.

Keeya Wiki yeah.

Anna Levesque Yes.

I think we’re all going to get pinned at some point or have a swim and we’re all in between swims.

When you know you’re with a good crew and you’ve learned hard moves and easy water, it is, I think, easier to not be so freaked out that you’re like kayaking isn’t fun anymore.

You know what I mean? Cause I’m glad to hear that that’s not your, it doesn’t sound like that’s your experience that after that you were like, kayaking isn’t fun anymore.

Obviously.

Cause if it was in the first week, you still completed the full trip.

And it sounds like you again had a great time and you were with great people.

And, and I think that, you know, for me as an instructor as well for the sport, I, I see folks who will have negative experiences that didn’t need to be so negative. well, I say that, but you know, something, Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque I know what people believe.

I believe things happen for, well, know, some things happen for a reason.

Like there’s no way, if it happened, it happened.

You can’t like go back.

But I think that, yeah, it can, when you have good people around you and you’re having a good progression, the challenges seem… surmountable, I guess.

I don’t know.

Yeah.

That was a little tangent on my part, but yes, I think that’s great that y’all learned that way.

What was it like? So have you traveled to New Zealand to kayak or to kayak yet? Because there’s, I’ve paddled in New Zealand.

It’s amazing.

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Yeah.

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Keeya Wiki I’m so jealous.

I’m in a no-kai thing in New Zealand.

Anna Levesque Yeah, maybe that’s in your future.

That would be super cool.

Yeah.

Are there any strategies from the river or any metaphors from the river that you bring into your advocacy work since learning how to paddle? Keeya Wiki I hope so.

Keeya Wiki I think, I mean, me learning how to kayak in itself was a form of advocacy.

It was a form of advocacy before it was recreation.

Like I went into learning how to kayak and joining Paddle Trouble Waters to honor my relatives and advocate for my river and kind of like continue the legacy of the people of the Klamath River.

Anna Levesque I’m sorry.

Keeya Wiki And now that I’ve like spent up done a lot of kayaking I really really really have learned to love it and so I think it’s I think what kayaking is like really What I didn’t expect I can teach me was this is okay This is a little basic and a little boring, but I hold it true to myself.

It’s just like Joy and that really anything can be a form of that’s a big theme for me is like joy it’s like how can i center everything around joy joy and anything can be a form of advocacy really truly yeah i think that’s like the biggest no you go i was just gonna i was just gonna go a little tangent okay well okay well i mean you know i didn’t Anna Levesque Can you say more about, go ahead, sorry.

No, no, go ahead.

No, no, I’m wanting to hear you say.

Yeah, good, good, go on, it’s the engine.

Keeya Wiki There was like, I was 15 when I went into paddle trouble waters.

And so I really like, I wasn’t really necessarily looking forward to the kayaking.

And it was really hard at first.

And then, you know, I really learned to love it.

And I really, and especially completing the first ascent, I did realize like, hey, you know, like this can be, this can be fun.

And just by me being here and me kayaking. the river and seeing parts of my home rivers that other people from my community don’t get to see is just as impactful as being in a march and just as impactful as emailing my congressperson.

Just being out there representing is so, important.

Anna Levesque Mm-hmm.

Agree.

Yeah.

Thanks for sharing that.

Yeah, it is really important.

And I love that you’re centering around joy.

This theme keeps coming up in our conversation and it’s very, very cool.

Can you tell, can you share a little bit about the legacy of the peoples of the Klamath River? Keeya Wiki Yeah, I mean, I don’t know how much, hopefully I can do this justice, but I mean, since, I don’t really know where to start.

I think there’s so much, there’s so many important things to include, but the people of the River have been fighting for cultural preservation and the sustainability of the Klamath River since time of memorial, and especially since Western contact.

And there’s a lot of I mean for my people the Yorick peoples There is an era in time about 60 years ago where We were not allowed to fish on the Klamath River And My a lot, I mean my people, you know said hey, this is where you’ve lived since time memorial This is where we fish since time of memorial.

This is how we This is part of our culture.

This is an extension of our self and our lifelines.

You can’t, you literally can’t do that to us.

And my uncle, I’ve been Matt’s. made an argument that Klamath River natives can fish on the Klamath River and it went to the Supreme Court and we won.

Against the state of California.

And then in 2002 there was the largest fish kill in the continental US.

I mean thousands of adult salmon in the fall just died. just thousands and we lost, I mean, a good day of fishing could have been like 80, 80 under fish and then it went to like 10, 20.

And so ever since, you know, 2002, I mean, even before that dam removal was, was talked about, but ever since 2002, it’s been very prominent.

And I think every kid who did, not I think every single kid who’s a part of paddle trouble waters, every kid who comes from the Klanthorber can say.

Anna Levesque Mm.

Keeya Wiki Yaya family who fought for the river, who advocated, and has made an impact.

And so that’s kind of the, that’s a little bit of our legacy.

Anna Levesque Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

And when is the first, or maybe it’s already happened, salmon run since the dams have been removed? Keeya Wiki What were the dams were last year? Yes, yes, yes.

I did think about, yeah.

Yeah, the salmon have started running last year. mean, a lot of people thought that once the dams came down, would like no salmon would go past where iron get used to sand.

No salmon will go away up river. within the first, and they thought it was gonna take like a year to multiple years.

And within the first 10 days.

Anna Levesque Okay, so yeah.

Anna Levesque Mm.

Keeya Wiki or within the first couple, within the first couple weeks, salmon went past.

Where are you, Sand? Yeah, they’re going home.

They know.

Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque Mmm.

Anna Levesque Amazing.

Because they know.

Yeah.

Wow.

That’s very cool.

And how has that impacted the people along the Klamath, your people? Keeya Wiki I think we’re just so excited.

I everyone’s just so excited.

And I think it’s like, we’re definitely healing.

We’re in the process of healing.

I mean, there’s still so, so, so, so much work to be done to protect and preserve our river, but the dam’s coming down and the fish starting to return to their aboriginal territories.

Definitely, we’re healing a little bit, just a little bit more.

And it feels pretty good.

Anna Levesque Mm.

Anna Levesque Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque Mm.

Yeah.

That’s great.

Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque Where do you think this journey of kayaking advocacy is gonna take you into the future? Keeya Wiki Jeez, honestly, wish, load of questions.

I’m like applying for colleges right now.

It’s like, God.

I mean, just like, I think, okay.

One, Palo Triple Water has already opened like, opened so many incredible doors for me.

I mean, I got to speak at the White House with Ruby in April of last year.

Anna Levesque I know, loaded question, I know.

Keeya Wiki And that was really, cool at the White House Water Summit.

And I’ve just had so many more chances to speak out, speak about my people.

And I think in the future, it’s just gonna, you know, continuing to do the work and getting more and more future generations involved and getting more kids back on, getting more kids back on the river.

I mean, I grew up on the Klamath River my whole life.

And the first time I swam in the river was two years ago.

Anna Levesque Okay.

Keeya Wiki So, and yeah, so kayaking is definitely just like re- not rekindled is the word, but like, not reconnected, but I’ve strengthened my relationship to the river so much more.

And so that’s what I am holding true in my heart is that, you know, this work will just continue.

So the next generations, future generations after me, and even just young generations now can- Anna Levesque Mm.

Keeya Wiki learn how to kayak and get back on and get on the river and learn how to navigate and learn how to read and run water and see parts of the river that have become inaccessible and create stories and share stories and just pass on traditional ecological knowledge of the river.

Anna Levesque Yeah.

You know, when I first started kayaking, I remember someone saying to me, you know, learning to read water is such a cool skill.

It’s a skill that not a lot of people have, have, like you have, it’s like a different language.

And that always stuck with me.

Like that always stuck with me.

I’ve always, and I also think that as a paddler, learning to read water builds, Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque confidence because you’re choosing your own lines and you’re seeing a path.

I also think that it’s a way to cultivate a relationship with the river for myself.

I’ve you know, there’s something about I’m not out there trying to conquer the river or you know, it’s it’s I’m very much okay in this dance with the current and just like any relationship like understanding Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque the other being is so important to be able to navigate and to be able to choose a line and working with the river.

I just love, is, do you ever, I don’t know, what’s your take on reading water? Cause you mentioned that that was, in what you just said, you mentioned specifically like learning how to.

Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque I don’t know if you said read water, you said navigate and learn the river.

So what does reading water mean to you? Keeya Wiki I want to say I really agree with your point about like reading water builds confidence and it really does connect you with the river and it helps you understand because I am actually so bad at reading water.

I mean, I can do, I’m like, okay, over there shallow over here, you know, there’s a hole, like I shouldn’t, you know, that’s not a wave. like there’s been a couple of times where I’ve Anna Levesque Hahaha! Right? Right.

Keeya Wiki got myself into some accidental like, boosts because I didn’t quite know.

And then I’ve had, it really has taught me some good skills though, is like not being the best, but no, I really agree.

I mean, reading water, like, I mean, just brag about I’m not really good at it, but like reading, I definitely have learned confidence in myself to like one, two, you know.

Anna Levesque Sure.

Yeah, I hear you.

Yeah.

Keeya Wiki like face challenges head on in a moment, in that moment, in a split second, there you go.

But also it’s so cool.

I actually think it’s really cool to read water, especially like, I mean, where I come from on the lower 44 miles of the Klamath River is the York reservation.

And it’s very flat.

It’s just all flat and it’s kind of horrible.

But there’s… parts of the river that can be really shallow, but it’s very wide. so really knowing like, one, if I’m in a huge boat, knowing how to navigate, but also like where to, you know, where’s the best place to fish? Where’s the best place to go swimming? Where can I take my family up river and confidently put them in the water and know that they’ll be okay? And so like that is really, you know, something that like…

Anna Levesque Mm-hmm.

Keeya Wiki I think something really important that is I’m really grateful that I can like now do well and quickly. and that not a of people really know and just not that they don’t know, but it’s like know how to look at a river and think about all of this moving parts.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Anna Levesque Yeah.

Right.

Anna Levesque They haven’t.

Anna Levesque They haven’t learned the skill yet.

Yeah. yeah.

The accidental booths.

Actually, did you know? You probably don’t know.

But I, when I was a teacher for what the school before world class, it was called Adventure Quest and Rush was one of my students when he was like 16.

And there was a bunch of them and…

Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Keeya Wiki Really? Anna Levesque I can’t remember if he was on the river at this, at this one. were in Chile on the Maipo and we were like wave wheeling down the wave train.

And one of the other students and I wave wheeled right into a huge hole because it just looked like a big wave.

And somehow like he got out and I just got worked.

I got worked in the hole and I swam.

Keeya Wiki Sheesh.

Anna Levesque And I was so happy.

They were all kids at the time.

They’re all in whatever their 30s, 40s now, but they were right on me.

It was very humbling because there I was, the teacher’s swimming and they were like, they totally rescued me.

It was great.

But to your point, yeah, we all make mistakes in reading water.

It gets spicy out there.

But again, like you said, it’s good to have a good crew.

Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Aww.

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Keeya Wiki yeah.

Mm-hmm. yeah.

Anna Levesque in those moments.

Kia, do you have any, do you have a question for me? Keeya Wiki I I do have a question for you.

How did, what inspired the creation of this podcast? Anna Levesque The, I really, sometimes I, let’s see.

I have found at times that the whitewater culture can be very adrenaline focused and this idea of like fearlessness or like fear is bad or only certain people experience nerves.

I think obviously it’s changing and Keeya Wiki Hmm.

Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Anna Levesque because I’ve been in the industry for 30 years. when I looked at my life and I used to compete, I worked at schools, I’ve run my own business, been an instructor.

I’ve gotten to know a lot of really cool people who have paddled for a long time and really high-end paddlers and people that I’ve just met in different courses.

And I just love connecting with people and I think that sharing stories, I think that sharing the human experience is so powerful so that, and I wanted to put it out there, like an interview people are like, it’s called interview but really I think of them as conversations.

People like Rush, people like Benny Maher, like, you know, Dave Fusilli, Wagner, like some of the really, really top level folks right now.

Keeya Wiki Mm.

Anna Levesque Um, and who have been toppled or people look up to and have them have authentic just conversation about like, yeah, this part challenges me.

This is how I, um, these are strategies that work, you know, or having different conversations with folks like you who are doing incredible, incredible work, um, advocating for your people, for the river.

And I just really want to amplify the, something that people, that may not be just.

Anna Levesque traditional in the Whitewater culture sense, if that makes sense.

Yeah, if that makes sense.

So that’s what really inspired me. you talk about feeling like that, for you, you’re experiencing joy as a privilege, being able to feel joy.

And I feel like having these conversations, being able to do this work is so cool.

And like, wow, I get to talk to amazing people and I always learn something.

So I’m very grateful.

Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Keeya Wiki that’s really that’s really cool that’s really cool especially I’m like I mean I am myself kind of disconnected from the whitewater community a little bit just because of like how I got into it but there are like some patterns that I’ve recognized so it’s cool that this is a place where like fear can be normalized a little bit yeah Anna Levesque Yeah.

Anna Levesque sure.

Anna Levesque Exactly.

Well said.

That could have been my one line answer to what the…

Exactly.

Fear, self-doubt, all of that stuff normalized because the more we push it away, like what we resist persists.

So really just being like, yeah, if people are like, oh yeah, everyone feels this way to a certain extent, I don’t need to make such a big deal about it and I can go on.

Yeah.

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Anna Levesque Awesome.

That was so good.

Well said.

Mic drop.

Okay.

So I have rapid fire questions for you around, these are designed to just be answered in like a sentence or, you know, short answers.

Okay.

What’s a morning ritual that sets you up for success? Keeya Wiki Thank you, thank you.

Keeya Wiki Okay.

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Keeya Wiki Cup of coffee, black.

Anna Levesque Nice. black, strong.

Okay, what’s a non-negotiable self-care practice? Keeya Wiki a shower.

Just after kayaking.

Anytime.

Shower.

Non-negotiable.

Anna Levesque Yes.

All right.

Favorite motivational quote, book, talk, or song? There’s lots of options there.

Keeya Wiki Wait, Any song by Miss Lauryn Hill.

Gets me, yeah does me good.

Anna Levesque yes.

Right on.

Okay, what do people get wrong about you? Keeya Wiki that I talk good.

Anna Levesque Ha Keeya Wiki This is the front.

Anna Levesque Awesome.

Okay.

Throughout the course of your life, have you thought of yourself as the underdog or the favorite to win? Keeya Wiki Mm-hmm.

Keeya Wiki I don’t think of myself as anything.

I just am who I am.

Yeah.

Anna Levesque Okay, nothing.

Okay, love it.

All right.

Hard moves in easy water or flooding.

Keeya Wiki I think hard moves in easy water.

Anna Levesque I love that look that you just gave me.

That was awesome.

Okay.

What’s one word that describes your comfort zone? Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Keeya Wiki relaxed.

Anna Levesque Nice.

Okay.

Awesome.

Okay, in one word, what do you hope your legacy will be? Keeya Wiki Or I want to change it actually.

Giggly.

Keeya Wiki is joyful.

Joyful. huh.

Anna Levesque Awesome.

It’s the theme.

Joy is the theme.

Kia, is there anything else that you want to say to our listeners? Keeya Wiki I think knowing that the audience is someone or white water based.

I just hope the first descent.

Okay, I’m just gonna plug the first descent, but I really hope the first descent does like echo out to the white water community in the United States, but also around the world of how we treat our land and our waters.

Anna Levesque Yeah, absolutely.

Keeya Wiki And if you and we were really, really intentional about how we moved through the Klamath River and how we completed the first ascent.

And there’s parts that we skipped entirely and for really good reasons.

And so I think I just hope that, you know, the wet water community can look can follow in our footsteps a little bit or not a little bit, you know, following our footsteps and hear our echo about how to. and to think about land and water and think about what this river means to the stewards, to people who have existed on the land of the river since time immemorial and just really being intentional.

Anna Levesque Hmm.

Yep.

Thank you.

Is there, can I ask one follow up question to that? Keeya Wiki Yeah, of course.

Anna Levesque What, where is a good place for a kayaker or a group of kayakers to start being more intentional when they’re paddling in terms of, yeah, being intentional about what you just said, having respect for the land, for the peoples, people who came before them.

What’s a good place to start? Keeya Wiki I mean, I think kayaking is a lot of, you know, is a lot of oral communication and just hearing different things.

And so I know that I know for least the Clamont River, there’s like a lot of people kind of know the history and know that this is where you should be and this is where you definitely should not be.

And so I think I think if you’re someone in the Whitewater community or kind of just like in the outdoors community in more general words, knowing, I think just like one, doing a little bit of basic research for sure and asking questions like, you know, like where, like where can I be or what are the indigenous people saying about this? Or, you know, asking like locals in the area if you know any.

And if you know any indigenous peoples in the area too, think it’s just a really, it really is just a matter of just like researching and asking questions about how the stewards, stewards treated the land and making sure where you’re going to put in and take out our, you know, places you can be if online.

I mean, sometimes it’ll be pretty obvious, but I think just being, you know, not too cautious or not like stopping yourself and, you know, doing a fun run, but just really being mindful.

Just be mindful.

Yeah.

Anna Levesque Mindful and what I hear you say is curious.

Mindful and curious.

You know, not just going, yes, mindful and curious.

That’s what I’ll say, is what I’m hearing.

So thanks, Kia.

I really appreciate your time and taking the time to speak with me.

It was wonderful.

And thanks for spreading your joy because I really felt it.

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Yeah.

Keeya Wiki Thank you.

Keeya Wiki Yeah.

Anna Levesque And yeah, excited for folks to listen.

So thank you.

Keeya Wiki Thank you, thank you so, so, so much for having me.

I had a great time.

Anna Levesque I’m gonna stop.