I’m in Los Angeles for a workshop and had a bit of free time before it began. Of course, being a desert dweller, I headed straight for the Pacific Ocean to feel sand and cold water between my toes and a cool breeze on my skin. Walking from the bus stop to the beach, a skateboard shop caught my eye. So in the name of research, I stopped in.
Research? Yes, research for an exhibit opening October 15th called Through the Eyes of the Eagle: Illustrating Healthy Living. One of the stories within this exhibit is about the popularity of skateboarding in Indian Country and how its one way to be active and stay healthy. Not being a skateboarder myself, I asked Lance, who works at Venice Originals Skateboard Shop, what were the top things I should know about skateboarding.
His answer was simple:
1) Anyone can do it.
2) It’s just you and your board. Meaning that it’s a solo sport, not a team sport.
3) Practice. It takes a lot of practice to become skilled.
Other things Lance mentioned included that the basic move is called an ollie
and that the best way to stop is simply to jump off the board. Most decks (boards) are 31 inches long and street boards tend to be flatter than the ones you see kids using in the skate parks.
At the beach I discovered people crowded around the edges of a skate park where youth were practicing their tricks. Whoa, it’s alluring! How do they do those smooth rolls and flips? How does that board seem to stick to their feet?
As part of our exhibit visitors can try their hand, I mean their feet, well maybe it’s their balance, skateboarding on the Tony Hawk Nintendo Wii game Shred. When no one is looking, I might be out there trying it too! On display will be skate decks with designs by Native artists including ones by Dustinn Craig (White Mountain Apache/Navajo), Douglas Miles (San Carlos Apache), Ryan Huna Smith (Chemehuevi/Navajo) and Todd Harder (Creek). Also on display will be the original artwork for a comic book, illustrated by Ryan Huna Smith. One of the main characters is a girl named Samantha who loves to skateboard.
And on November 12th we’ll present a multicultural health fair at which you can watch Navajo and Apache youth demonstrating those cool skateboarding tricks I saw both at Venice Beach and at the All Nations Skate Jam in Albuquerque (which I also attended in the name of research!). Hope you’ll stop by the museum and see why skateboarding is popular in Indian Country.
Watch for future blogs about other aspects of the exhibit as well more about the skateboard decks and the comic. Photo: All Nations Skate Jam, Albuquerque 2011
This post is written by Lisa Falk, ASM Director of Education, and chief curator for ASM’s Through the Eyes of the Eagle Exhibit and project director of all related public programs and the comic book. She is also the editor for the Talking About Southwest Cultures blog.
G-Ollie Lisa!… sounds like the Through the Eyes of the Eagle exhibit is shaping up to be one of the most insightful, intriguing and culturally educational opportunities ever. Young, old, sporty or not, it should be on everyone’s ‘must-see’ list.
Kudos,
Kasey
Thanks, Kasey. Come join us for A Healthy Celebration on November 12th!
Skateboarding is a great way for kids to stay active, so I think that it seems like a perfect fit for your health fair.. you might even “trick” some people into getting some fresh air and exercise!
We will have a crew of Navajo and Apache youth doing group jam sessions the fair. Come on by and watch!
That is a cool sports,I really hope I can play like PRO player!
Hi Lisa cool post. I was out west doing some recycling sales and I noticed more skate board parks in the western states then just say New York and this North east side of the country.
I tried skateboarding when I was younger, trying an ollie just didn’t work for me. Snapping the board in half lucky I didn’t break my head.
Keep promoting healthy ways to live. Go Green
Carmine AKA ALYBOY Ps as a kid all my buddies that did skate would say Aly can’t you do an ollie lol maybe you had to be there. Ciao bye
Good skateboarders are very fun to watch. I have tried a few times and have come to the conclusion its a spectator sport only for me!!!
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For me its is not easy sport to become a expert this sport need to a practice and its hard to beginner players. but this is okay!
Angeline
Life is exercise
woho!what a nice sports!But it is little difficult for the beginners to play.I am glad on this sports.Thanks a lot falk
What a great way to get people to experience skateboarding and get a different point of view! Being a skateboarder for over 16 years, I’ve actually gotten back to the roots of skateboarding, just cruising and having fun. I got exhausted trying to keep up with the younger kids and their technical tricks. While the ollie isn’t that technical, it does take some learning. Getting people to just carve on a skateboard is a lot easier. Skateboarding began with simply carving and cruising the streets, hence the term “sidewalk surfing”. I’ve shelved my normal skateboard and have picked up one of those new plastic skateboards. These plastic skateboards are so much fun. I don’t have any of the pressures to pull off tricks, just cruise and have fun.
Nice Sharing…
nice sharing, hope i could do that in future