Stronghold Society sponsors Sk8Jam competition

Native Sun News: Lakota youth unite for skateboarding contestThe top two goals of Stronghold Society are to create and sustain an art resource studio and skateboarding park on the Pine Ridge Reservation and to provide Native American youth with an outlet for creativity through resources developed by the organization.

Giving young warriors the opportunity to create new avenues of proving their fearlessness and their athletic prowess is merely one of the outcomes of the Colorado-based Stronghold Society, which is headed by Oglala Lakota Walt Pourier. Giving the young men and women on the Pine Ridge Reservation the ability to find a creative outlet through skateboarding is the No. 1 priority for all involved with Stronghold and includes the 10th Annual Toby Eagle Bull Memorial Sk8Jam competition held Aug. 3.

According to Pourier’s comments on the Stronghold website, “The stronghold is a place where a community regroups, a place to stand your ground and together face all of life’s challenges ... to ride out the coming storm.”

“The Lakotas have a word, ‘skan,’ interpreted as something that moves. Spiritual vitality, the force of life itself, is something each of us and all of life possess within,” Pourier said.Comment:  For more on Indians and skateboarding, see Skating the Navajo Rez for Skatepark and Apacheria: The Art of Douglas Miles.

Below:  "Derek Hill, Pine Ridge, shows his best for the judges at the Toby Eagle Bull Memorial Sk8Jam Competition."