CARSON CITY, Nev. The sun was setting, the temperature dropping and winter storm clouds were moving over the Sierra when Timmee Osorio sprang to his feet, yelling with delight.
“We’ve got a fire going!” said Timmee, smiling as he made the triumphant announcement.
Finally, warmth, and another step forward for Timmee in “Project Venture.”
Only moments before, Timmee, 11, and eight other young members of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, had occupied a very cold spot of bare ground at the south end of Carson City.
Timmee’s fire was the first. But soon after his shout, two other small piles of brush and twigs burst into flames as separate three-kid teams successfully completed their assignment in a vacant area near the recreation center of the tribe’s Stewart Community.
The youngsters, ages 7 to 16, had learned to build campfires, one of the first in a series of projects that will culminate in June. That’s when about 50 of the tribe’s children and teenagers spend four days in the woods as the their final exam in a program the Washoe tribe hopes will preserve old traditions and prevent modern trouble.
“We can get them involved in outdoor cultural activities,” said Ryan De Rose, a wilderness expert hired by the tribe to guide the youngsters through Project Venture, “instead of being bored, which leads to gangs and drug use.”
Last month, there was fire making. Later will come rock climbing, outdoor survival and other lessons.
“It allows them to see nature,” said Waldo Walker, elected in October as chairman of the 1,800-member Washoe tribe when he defeated longtime leader Brian Wallace. “It allows them to get a chance to do things we didn’t get a chance to do when I was growing up.”
Project Venture is more than camping out. The program, combining weekly classroom instruction with monthly outdoor excursions, is being used not just by the Washoe tribe, but on American Indian reservations across the country, where youngsters such as Timmee are hiking through forests, rafting rivers and climbing mountains.
“Ultimately, it’s a prevention program,” said Liz Garcia, Washoe tribe director for Project Venture. “It’s about health and wellness, (preventing) drugs and alcohol.”
Project Venture is part of the tribe’s afterschool program of activities — which range from cooking to Washoe language instruction — that take place daily from about 3:30 p.m. until 6 p.m.
“We provide a safe educational environment for our children,” said Wanda Batchelor, chairwoman for the tribe’s Stewart Community. “A lot of our parents work and aren’t home until 6 o’clock. We target those times.”
Stewart is one of four Washoe neighborhoods in the Carson City-Carson Valley area. Project Venture classes are conducted in each community, and the project’s participants come together for monthly outings.
“With children, you always hear: ‘There’s nothing to do. There’s nothing to do,"’ said Richard Varner, a retired state law enforcement officer who is head of the tribe’s police. “This is an effort on the tribe’s part to keep them interested in something positive.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 13, 2007. Read the original PDF.