Skateboarding and Native Americans

Members of the 4 Wheel Warpony skate team (White Mountain Apache). Photo courtesy of Dustinn Craig (White Mountain Apache/Navajo), 2008.

I saw the greatest exhibit on my lunch hour today. I went to the National Museum of the American Indian (part of the Smithsonian Institution, based in Washington, DC). so it is FREE! Yes, FREE!

The exhibit is a simple but impressive photo and film display on how skateboarding is actually an indigenous sport, derived from Native Hawaiians surfing.

And I learned that there is actually a school that combines elementary school curriculum with skateboarding. It's called "Kids That Rip Skate School", and it's the only one in the USA.

http://www.kidsthatrip.com/


Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America
December 11, 2009–June 27, 2010
George Gustav Heye Center, New York
Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004
FREE
212-514-3700

http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=visitor

DC's Smithsonian in NYC!

I went to the Smithsonian Musuem of the American Indian in Battery Park the other day. Many people do not even know this museum exists, but I learned about it back in 2004 when I went on my one and only "Discovery New York" neighborhood walk.

The museum is free, like all Smithsonians, and I have to admit that's the main reason I went.

It is in the old US Customs House, which is gorgeous. And I learned a lot about the different clothes of the different Native American tribes!

http://www.nmai.si.edu/