The Pandion Institute describes itself as “place-based learning for our Future Elders.” It is a network of partners that create outdoor programs grounded in Indigenous ways of being and knowing, and a training program for Indigenous young adults in guiding and land management. It was formed in 2023 and works from a post-office box in Joseph, across the Columbia River watershed. Its 2026 programs are five. The Saqáanma School is six days, with a four-day raft trip through Hells Canyon, for Nez Perce descendants aged 11 to 14 from the Colville, Nez Perce and Umatilla communities. A Native Youth Guide School on the lower Salmon River takes ages 15 to 17. An Ancient Trails backpacking program walks Wenatchi homelands. A hunter-education course is for Umatilla members. A Deschutes River rafting program is run with the Columbia River Institute for Indigenous Development.
The institute lists thirteen staff and board members, among them directors of organizational development, of programs and culture, and of research, two youth guide trainees, and chu’ma, Doug Marconi, as trip leader and grant writer; he also chairs the board of Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland. Its tax filings show $182,559 in revenue in 2024, and grants from the Meyer Memorial Trust, the Schmidt Family Foundation and Seeding Justice in 2024 and 2025.
Its film hitoláayca (Going Upriver), by Anna Lueck with producer Clark Shimeall, follows Devin Reuben as he trains to become the first certified Nimiipuu whitewater guide of his generation. It was published on the NRS channel in June 2026 and is shown on the atlas.
Also known as: Pandion
Through time
The institute is formed, with its first year’s revenue of $60,900.
hitoláayca (Going Upriver) is published in June; summer programs run on the Snake, Salmon and Deschutes rivers and in the Cascades.
