Expedition Wind River Offers Leadership Training for Indigenous Youth on Tribal Lands

Each year NOLS Rocky Mountain, the Lander-based branch of the National Outdoor Leadership School, runs a week-long wilderness expedition for 12 indigenous middle and high school students from Fremont County. For many students the expedition, held on tribal land in the Wind River Mountains, is life-changing. Although NOLS provides staff, transportation, food, and shared gear such as tents and cookstoves, the cost of personal equipment can be prohibitive for many Fremont County families. Recognizing this, a longtime NOLS instructor asked LOR for a grant to cover the purchase of backpacks, hiking boots, sleeping bags and pads, clothing, and other personal gear for Wind River Expedition students in 2021. LOR’s funding helped ensure that these young indigenous leaders had everything they needed to access high-quality place-based education right in their own backyard.