2018 - 2019 - Learning Publicly at River Rally

That same year, River Rally was held near the town of Lake Tahoe, CA. Though a beautiful site near the Truckee River, we did not account for the problematic nature of the resort’s name. Attendees, including many Native people, were understandably upset, and circulated a petition criticizing our staff and board for the choice. We chose to address this directly at the beginning of the Awards Celebration, offering an unqualified apology, owning the mistake and the harm it created, committing to do better, and thanking those who raised concerns for sharing their perspective and energy. 

 

“We don’t defend. We apologize and we own it. In a way we modeled the behavior that we have been talking about for the rest of our community.”

-Nicole Silk, River Network President 

 

The very next year, at River Rally in 2019 in Cleveland, River Hero James Rasmussen, executive director of the Duwamish Tribe Advisory Council, was not sure he would accept the award. Was River Network truly committed to serving the best interests of Black, Indigenous, and people of color? This again pushed forward many important discussions with River Network staff and board members in the lead up to the Awards Celebration. We once again committed deeply to our values, while giving Rasmussen the space and platform to publicly voice his conerns.

 

2019 River Heroes (L-R): Dennis Chestnut, Monica Lewis-Patrick, San Juana Olivares, James Rasmussen. Photo by Benjamin Colon

Read more in James Edward Mills’s piece, Beyond Equity – The 2019 River Rally.