ABOUT US

My name is Vidal Gonales and I grew up traditionally in Santa Clara Pueblo, being raised by my single mother, great aunts, and grandparents. Santa Clara Pueblo is an indigenous tribe based in northern New Mexico and has deep cultural roots in the southwest extending to places like Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. I have always had a deep love and connection to my culture, traditions, history, and to the landscape that has sustained my people for time immemorial. This deep connection has inspired me to found The Uncivilized Outdoorsman LLC. The Uncivilized Outdoorsman LLC’s main focus is on indigenous and traditional outdoor youth education, which is conducted through the medium of fly fishing and experiential education.

 

I am very passionate about teaching the younger generations about our people’s culture, traditions, language, history, and stories because this knowledge strengthens our people and if we lose that knowledge, we lose who we are as Tewa people. We need to pass on this knowledge onto the next generation so that we can maintain our traditional ways of life into the future and foster the next generation of strong leaders. We work to serve disadvantaged indigenous and traditional Hispanic youth in New Mexico, which are the most at risk for alcoholism and other effects that come from colonialism and low socio-economic status. Through inspiring these youth, we hope to build a strong relationship of care between these two communities so that they will be able to work together in the future to solve issues related to climate change, decreasing water supplies, devastating natural disasters, and other issues that plague both of our communities. If you are not from New Mexico but are interested in learning how you can support our efforts please fill out a sponsor inquiry form on our Sponsor Tab. We will then get you connected!