The Indigenous and Hispanic Youth Fly Fishing Camp was first created in 2022 by Vidal Gonzales and strives to uplift Indigenous and Hispanic youth from underserved communities (specifically from local tribal, acequia, and land grant communities in Northern New Mexico). Since then, the camp has grown with the support of Trout Unlimited to move from a one-day outing to a multi-day camp. The camp’s goal is to educate underserved youth about their cultural landscape, traditions, language, and traditional ecological knowledge through the medium of fly fishing. The camp uses the art of fly fishing to foster a community of care, to provide a healthy outlet for underserved youth, and to grow the next generation of leaders who will need to work together as our communities’ face drought, climate change, and the reduction of cultural/natural resources. The camp is an all-inclusive camp with no expenses to the participating youth and strives to create a community of care. The camp brings out elders from the local communities to open with a traditional prayer and to tell stories or histories of the cultural landscape.
