The San Joaquin River Intertribal Heritage Educational Corporation (SJRIHEC) is dedicated to working with youth and adults in the preservation of Native American philosophy and has made a commitment to preserving the ecology through hands on experience. SJRIHEC operates in two Learning Centers, the main site at the old Chawanakee School and the San Joaquin River Gorge facility located at the Bureau of Land Management San Joaquin River Gorge Recreational Area in Auberry, California.

The Chawanakee School Learning Center, main facility for the San Joaquin River Intertribal Heritage Educational Corporation (SJRIHEC), is truly a one of a kind facility. Snow capped peaks and the walls of the canyons of the San Joaquin River frame the setting for Chawanakee. The Learning Center is located within the San Joaquin River Gorge amid oak and pine trees, with deer, mountain quail, and other wildlife to enjoy and appreciate. The surrounding area is rich in history, and contains areas that have been used by Native people for hundreds of years for gathering and trade. Accessible by County maintained roads, the Learning Center is far from the maddening crowds, and yet is only an hour and a half from the Fresno-Yosemite International Airport. It sits at the upper end of Redinger Lake and is close to Shaver Lake, Huntington Lake, Sierra Summit Ski Area, the Kaiser, and Dinkey Lakes Wilderness, as well as many other special places.