- [Narrator] Fleet Feet believes that running changes everything and we're proud to sponsor Crosscut's Out & Back with Alison Mariella Désir.

We host fun runs, training groups, and events.

Whether you're training for your first mile or your 50th marathon, we're here to run with you.

- [Polly] For me, I wish the future of surfing, it's almost like what I think the surfing of the past has always been.

It's about friends and family passing that knowledge down to the next generation.

It's about, you know, older siblings be like, all right, I'm gonna grab you younger siblings and we're gonna go out and catch a few waves.

And, you know, for this community, I think that's already kind of happening.

For Washington coasts, we now have the seed of a group of people who is here enjoying their own waters, protecting it like they have always done, and really keeping that going forward for the next generation.

(water splashing) (upbeat music) (gentle music) - Today, I am grateful to be here on the Quinault Indian Reservation to take my very first surf lesson, thanks to a partnership between the Quinault Indian Nation and Warm Current.

Warm Current is an organization dedicated to making surfing more fun and accessible for indigenous youth.

I'll be chatting with Polly Yen, a Warm Current volunteer and transplant from Taiwan, who found her love of surfing right here in Washington.

I'll also be chatting with Ryan Hendricks, a Quinault Indian tribal member and father whose children have found fun and empowerment on the waves.

(gentle music fading) - The Quinault Tribe has been here since time immemorial.

We're primarily known as water people.

So, we're ocean going people, we're river going people.

We're standing on mile six of 26 miles of untouched beach and this is where you come to heal.

This is where all the fresh air is.

There's no technology around you, there's no stress around you, there's nobody making you do anything.

You're not obligated to do anything.

You can just, you know, this is a place where you could just come and just be.

To have the chance to be a father and a tribal member and to mix all of this in these amazing locations is really priceless.

- And this is one of your daughters.

- And this is one of my oldest children.

Her name is Kaylie Hendricks and she's a mad eacker, so yeah.

- [Alison] So even though the Quinault are known as water people, there wasn't this surfing connection?

- [Ryan] No, there's really not.

It's really weird.

- Okay.

- [Kaylie] We've never surfed before, so we're like, oh, this like seems really fun and then we gotta surf.

Like, I've just loved surfing ever since.

- What is it, like, is there a feeling that you get when you surf?

What is about surfing that you love?

- It honestly, for me it feels like I could do anything I want.

Like, I can make the choices that I would like to make.

(upbeat music) Like I feel free out in the water, like, I'm in my own head and I'm just doing my own thing.

I could do anything I would like.

I could float on my board, I could just sit here forever.

That's what I feel like.

- Alison, this is your first time, so we're gonna start with how to be safe, putting a leash on, carry your board out in the water.

We're gonna catch some white water, learn how to turn.

And when you're paddling, want your chest high.

- [Alison] Yeah.

- You don't need your hand up here.

- [Alison] Okay.

- You need your hand about here.

- Okay.

- So, yeah that's- - This already feels really weird.

(laughing) - Doesn't that feel weird?

Yeah, yeah.

You're gonna feel it all over your back.

- [Alison] Yeah.

- Yeah, that's the hardest part.

And then, you wanna take your hand, put it on the board, but get it really close to your belly.

- Ah, okay.

- As close to your hips as possible.

- [Alison] Okay.

- And this is where surfing and yoga is very similar.

- Yeah, I'm like- I see an upward.

(laughing) - Yes, feel a very nice upward.

What I'm gonna do is actually have you just surf like this.

- [Alison] Okay.

- You can surf a wave just like this.

- Okay.

- [Polly] The popup is an option which helps you control the wave.

- Okay.

- And it will look like... Start here.

(Alison groaning) There you go.

(Alison laughing) And then... Yeah.

All right, so that's what a basic popup looks like.

- Okay, what is like the number one thing I need to know today?

- I think it's just be certain of yourself.

If you think that, if it's a good wave, then just do it, like.

- That's beautiful, that's life advice.

- (laughing) Totally.

- Be certain, don't question yourself.

- Yeah.

- Give it a squat.

Nice!

When I first saw images of surfing and like people surfing, I kind of saw two things.

I was like, that looks like so much fun.

They look like they're having so much fun and I'm not doing that.

Like, I want to do that.

And the other part of the message I got was, yeah, skinny white dudes on a short board or skinny white girls.

You know and I'm not either of them.

So, there's this desire for me to like, I wanna have that much fun too and be that free and it feels like there is a gap that I wasn't sure how to cross.

(wave rushing) (Alison laughing) (upbeat music) I have to admit, you know, at first when I heard about the concept of Warm Current, I'm a little bit like, oh man, I'm not indigenous, I'm not from Washington.

And how would sort of my presence be received?

And is it even a thing that people want?

But really, they have given me the opportunity to learn how to surf.

Without them and without Washington, it just wouldn't have happened.

I didn't find that community and a group of people to help me get into surfing.

And over the years, what I found was, because warm current is so service oriented, we're really here for the kids.

We're here to connect with the ocean and you absolutely do not have to surf a certain way to be a surfer.

The ocean has no idea how you look.

The ocean has no idea what equipment you're on.

All that the ocean and the wave is gonna care about is if you and the wave are in sync.

And that is really the only thing that we're looking for.

And everything else is made up.

Everybody can surf.

(upbeat music continues) (Alison screaming) (upbeat music continues) - Highly recommend.

(laughing) Did you get that?

What does surfing feel like for you?

- In words?

- In words.

- Oh man, surfing feel like in words.

(laughing) There's a reason why all the YouTube videos of surfers, they're like (screams).

(Alison laughing) When I go for it and when I catch a wave, it's a lot of feelings in about five to ten seconds.

I first feel a lot of things is possible.

Then I feel a little bit of fear.

Then I really feel a lot of confidence as I sort of drop in and get that wave and I feel a sense of accomplishment.

Surfing makes me feel like I can.

(waves crashing) - [Narrator] Fleet Feet is on a mission to inspire the runner in everyone and is proud to sponsor Crosscuts Out & Back with Alison Mariella Désir.