The USPS has a set of Forever Stamps called Art of the Skateboard and set vinyl skateboard stickers that match the stamp designs. This stamp series might have been better off served with a different title as the “Art Of the Skateboard” typically brings to mind the history of production graphics rather than brand new art stuck on the bottom of the skateboard for the sake of art. So maybe “Art On Skateboards” instead of “Art Of The Skateboard.” It’s nit picky for sure, but you are reading this on a web site devoted to skateboarding and popular culture… How did I find out about it? Obviously, by reading the Winter 2023 issue of the official USPS magazine Philatelic. I’ll save you the trouble of looking it up: the collection and study of postage and imprinted stamps. I had a rant locked and loaded about my thoughts on the artistic merits of these stamps and how they looked a little clip art-ish. Then I found out that at least one of them was designed by Navajo artist Di’Orr Greenwood, who is indeed a skateboarder herself. From the Navajo-Hopi Observer: “Greenwood said the opportunity to have her art showcased nationwide is…

It’s Indigenous Peoples day. Here’s more Joe Buffalo. This video by the New York Times is a little more stylized than perhaps it needed to be, but overall it’s very heavy. What else could you expect from the aftereffects of Kill the Indian; Save the Child and the boarder school assimilation programs?

Teen Vogue has a short bio on Navajo Nation skateboarder Naiomi Glasses, who skates in traditional dress, sometimes on not-so-traditional terrain. She’s blowing up on what the kids call Tik-Tok, which has nothing to do with Vine….

Disorder has an interview with Joe Buffalo a skateboarder and actor from Maskwacis, Alberta and the Samson Cree Nation. The interview is from April of this year, and his pro model for Colonialism Skateboards has already sold out. You should also check out this more recent CBC radio interview with Joe. – Thanks to Heidi Randall for the tip.

John Aguilar sent in some photos of a recently completed (OK, February of 2016) Debra Barto Memorial Skatepark, located on the Tulalip Reservation, near Everett, Washington. It is named in honor of the woman in the tribe who pushed hard for building it. John said this Grindline park is a good time as long as it’s not being overrun by scooter and BMX kids. Yes, that bottom feature is supposed to look like a canoe.

Evergreen Skateparks is working on a park in Browning, Montana on the Blackfeet reservation. The project is being sponsored by Jeff Ament. The park (Big o capsule replica included) is on track to be finished in mid to late October. Meanwhile, Evergreen is breaking ground on a skatespot near the Cully neighborhood in NE Portland on September 15th.

In a super transparent attempt to bolster public support for their name in the face of public opinion (at least in the rest of the nation) that is turning against them, the Washington Redskins offered to write a blank check for a skatepark the Fort Yuma Quechan (Kwatsan) Tribe had been planning. They even brought a “skatepark designer” with them to present a design that was festooned in red and gold. Tribal officials had little trouble sussing out the ulterior motives, and quickly turned them down. You can read the press release from Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry. I have to wonder which destible “skatepark designer” went along with this embarrassing scheme. Definitely not a “credit to his race.” Was it a real design/build firm? Come on S&A community, let’s uncover this. In the meantime, enjoy this gratuitous link to Wounded Knee Skateboards. [Source: Kissing Suzy Kobler – Native News Online] – Thanks to Adam Shahan for the tip.

Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America opened in San Diego on April 28th at the Museum of Man. The show runs through September 9, 2012. It’s on tour for two years, maybe coming to a town near you. If not, there are open slots available. Hassle a museum or gallery in your neighborhood to bring it home. The Smithsonian Channel will air a program called Skateboard Nation starting on May 5th: Explore the underground movement that’s helping Native American youth throughout the U.S. soar above life’s challenges, one half-pipe at a time. Skateboarding is increasingly popular on Indian reservations, cultivating athletes, artists, entrepreneurs and mentors. From the streets of Albuquerque to New York City, from Washington, D.C. to Pine Ridge, SD, the sport is fueling a new form of self-expression and pride. – Hey Betsy!

This is from a February, 1980 National Geographic article on the Apache Indian Reserve. Genius. Simple, yet effective. Pure. Enlarge-o-rama. – Thanks to Ryan Mann for the tip.

I’ve been staying at a ranch out in the middle of nowhere, Montana. One of the staff heard me mention wanting to travel into Missoula to check out the skatepark. Turns out I could cut my drive time down from one hour to 15 minutes. The little town of St Ignatius, population 811, has a skatepark. St Ignatius is near the Flathead Indian Reservation, and in fact Native Americans made up approximately 40% of the population in the last census. St Ignatius received a Tony Hawk Foundation grant in 2006. That grant helped fund phase 1 of the park. Phase 2 of the park was completed by Dreamland on July 8th.