The Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps (ALCC) “engag[es] underrepresented Indigenous youth and young adults in conservation service programs that reconnect participants to the land, their cultural heritage, and their traditions.” 

While typical ALCC projects may include trail building, invasive plant removal, or maintaining archaeological sites, ALCC crews who have participated in this trip can add river rafting with scientists and conducting research in Grand Canyon to the list.

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The 2024 trip, led by trip leader Jen Lair, boat operator John Napier, and assistants Nichole Sanchez and Stephen Yazzie, served three ALCC crews based out of Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Together, a diversity of Tribes in the Southwest and beyond were brought together to form this expedition group which included many Navajo and Hopi youth and young adults, as well as crewmembers belonging to Pyramid Lake Paiute, White Mountain Apache, Lakota, and Muscogee Creek.

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A diverse array of research topics was covered on the 2024 trip including studies of aquatic invertebrates, bats, fish, and river sediment. Colleen Flanagan Pritz, Ecologist at the National Park Service, and Chris Kotalik, Research Ecologist at the USGS, represented the Dragonfly Mercury Project. After learning about the dangers of mercury as a toxin in food webs, the crewmembers helped collect dragonfly larvae, which are bioindicators of mercury in the environment, in tributaries to and the main stem of the Colorado River. Shannon Sartain, Hydrologist at the USGS, taught about research at the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center and how Glen Canyon Dam management affects the Colorado River. Crewmembers helped her service and collect data from remote instruments used to study dam effects, including acoustic monitors recording bat activity and cameras taking repeat photos of sandbars.

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While ten days in the Grand Canyon would certainly be a meaningful experience for anyone, it was especially so for the participants on this trip. Their previous work as trail crews and experiences in the southwest prepared them for the harsh outdoor conditions. The summer sun in Grand Canyon is not easy for anyone, but this crew continued to be excited to participate in scientific activities and canyon exploration, even as temperatures surpassed 115 °F. Additionally, their interests in the natural sciences, outdoor recreation, archaeology, anthropology, or the broader connections between humans and the environment led to great conversations on potential career paths in science, river guiding, and advocacy, to name just a few. 

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However, some of the most memorable and meaningful moments happened outside of structured science activities. Crewmembers shared cultural stories and words in their languages with the guide crew and each other. On boat rides or while cooking dinner, we keeled over laughing at jokes that were extra funny given the mild dehydration that comes with consecutive summer days in the Grand Canyon. We made art during the day, memorializing the many critters we encountered and the landscapes we saw, and had deep conversations under the stars at night. The crewmembers visited, with great reverence, the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers, which to some Tribes is the most sacred place on earth.

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The GCY-USGS-ALCC partnership is one-of-a-kind. It offers an exceptionally rare opportunity for the exchange of place-based knowledge, stories, and science between Indigenous people, researchers, and Grand Canyon river guides over many days. Thanks to GCY, the USGS, and the ALCC 2024 guides, scientists, crew leaders, and crewmembers for making this a memorable experience for all!