Salisbury Composite High School teacher Kristian Basaraba recently delivered a class that combined skateboard art with a history lesson on Indigenous culture and colonialism. Kristian’s project drew inspiration from Colonialism Skateboards, based in Treaty 4 territory.
Cree professional skateboarder Joe Buffalo lent his knowledge and experiences to the project as well. Joe hails from the Samson Cree Nation, and has experienced residential schools first-hand. Cree visual artist J Cat also mentored students on their designs.
Kristian was recently honoured with a Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching for developing the program. Grant Stovel recent spoke with Kristian and Joe:
Find out more by visiting CanadasHistory.ca. You can read more about Nations at facebook.com/nationskateyouth.
Maybe you’re not yet familiar with their classroom work together, but you may have seen Joe in this powerful video from A Tribe Called Red.