RIISE opens applications for free nine-day Grand Canyon rafting for Indigenous youth

RIISE, the Grand Canyon Regional Intertribal Intergenerational Stewardship Expedition, has opened applications for a free nine-day Colorado River rafting trip through Grand Canyon homelands for Indigenous youth ages 16–20, with the 2026 expedition scheduled for July 19–27, 2026 and applications due Monday, March 23, 2026 at 5 p.m. MST via the Grand Canyon Trust’s RIISE application page. The program is described as intertribal and intergenerational and aims to connect young people with ancestral homelands while teaching environmental justice issues along the Colorado River.

The 2026 trip, billed as RIISE’s fifth annual expedition, will select up to 18 young leaders and three adult knowledge holders to join Indigenous knowledge holders, river guides, and environmental advocates on the river. The program is hosted by Grand Canyon Trust and Grand Canyon Youth, with support from Arizona Raft Adventures and Grand Canyon Expeditions; organizers say transportation, meals, rafting equipment, and necessary camping gear are provided at no cost to participants, and for 2026 all transportation from Flagstaff will be provided.

Applicants must be comfortable camping outdoors along the Colorado River for nine days, hiking, and spending long periods outdoors, and accepted participants are required to complete six weeks of pre-trip online education and orientation focused on environmental justice in the Grand Canyon region. The expedition length and pre-trip requirement mirror previous years: the 2025, fourth annual RIISE ran July 20–28, 2025 and selected up to 18 young leaders, while organizers for 2026 explicitly include adult knowledge holders in the participant roster.

RIISE frames the trip as a cultural journey and a chance to develop communal and cultural connections to the canyon and river. Morningrain Thornburg, a Diné and Apache participant from RIISE 2025, reflected: “In this generation, we are all about fighting for what we believe in. We want to feel connected — to something meaningful, something that fills a void or gives us purpose. The challenges we face as individuals, as a country, and as a planet can also bring us closer to each other. They can create space for connection, for awareness, for voices to be heard.”

Participant accounts and program visuals underscore the itinerary’s signature sites and rituals. Nhonews photo captions show Adair Klopfenstein, Elena Klopfenstein and Samira Old Elk at the Confluence of the Little Colorado River and the Colorado River, photo credit to Bennett Wakayuta; Azraft material highlights RIISE 2025 at the Deer Creek waterfall and describes the final-night circle under the Milky Way where the group asked, “What will you take with you from this trip?” and concluded that the trip reveals “the realization that this is what life is about: spending time learning and laughing with relatives in our homelands.”

Voices from prior participants stress the trip’s impact: Samira Old Elk, Diné and Crow from Cameron, Arizona, called RIISE an “Absolutely incredible adventure,” and advised prospective applicants, “Do it!” Those testimonials join program language that centers intergenerational knowledge sharing, reciprocity, kinship, and young people’s development of visions for the canyon’s future.

To apply, eligible Indigenous youth ages 16–20 must submit an application through the Grand Canyon Trust’s RIISE application page by March 23, 2026 at 5 p.m. MST. RIISE organizers note continuity with earlier years while expanding the 2026 cohort to include adult knowledge holders; further program details and any logistical questions about departure locations or pre-trip schedules are managed by Grand Canyon Trust and Grand Canyon Youth.