Prime .. Cuts - analogy between skateboarding parks and Indian reservations - Brief Article

Thrasher Magazine, Nov, 2001 by Rich Johnson

THE CITY OF DENVER RECENTLY OPENED a skate reservation in the plush new center of town referred to as Lodo. That's right, a reservation. I once heard an analogy made of how modem-day skateboarders were like the American Indians of the 19th Century They were bands of nomadic peoples with vast expanses of landscape to live and hunt upon.

The modem skater does just the same in urban wastelands--searching for the ideal rail, ledge, gap--just as the Indians hunted for sustenance. In the same historical irony, skaters are led to reservations of perfect transitions, rails, ledges, and bowls, just like the Native people were led with cheap liquor and blankets by evil speculators who only honored the almighty dollar. The skatepark contractor is just as evil as the old time settler in his greed to skatelock all the natural spots in order to create a virtual empire in his specific geographic area The government finds friendlies to act as reservation police and squeal on those resistant to change. They are quickly subd ued and manipulated to a more positive governmental outlook When entering reservations like the new Lodo skatepark, remember the days of the hunting ground, where unlimited possibilities awaited you in a sprawling urban landscape. And remember to exploit those possibilities to their fullest so that your heart will not be and sad, like that of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce. The park between 19th and 20th streets in downtown Denver.