Rae Marie First Charger, 10, skateboarding in her ribbon skirt at a skate park in Lethbridge, Alta., on Oct. 8, 2022.Photography by Leah Hennel/The globe and Mail
Skateboarding appeals to Rae Marie First Charger. For starters, the 10-year-old appreciates the diverse nature of the pastime.
“It doesn’t matter who you are,” says Rae Marie, a member of the Blackfoot Nation. “Your race doesn’t matter, (nor) your age. You can skateboard.”
First Charger’s dad, Husky First Charger, is from Moses Lake, Alta., part of the Kainai Nation. He started a group, Nitokska, to help get youth in his Indigenous community involved in sports such as boxing and skateboarding – especially kids who are at risk or normally can’t afford to participate.
His daughter helps him with the program, which operates on the weekends. “If you really want it, there’s no pressure on it,” Rae Marie adds. “And it’s all about fun. No one needs to judge you. Just remember that: You do what you want to do.”
'It’s all about fun. No one needs to judge you. Just remember that: You do what you want to do,' says First Charger.
From right, Amaya Mohammed, 7, and her sister Safiya, 5, at a skate park near their home in Calgary.
Meanwhile in Calgary, Amaya Mohammed, 7, and her sister Safiya, 5, devote hours to skateboarding at a nearby park, often riding in their salwarkameez (traditional Pakistani clothes).
Their mother, Madiha, says: “I wish more people – especially from a lot of cultures that really don’t see their daughters do so – (would) see and say, ‘Wow, there is room for us. There is a place where we can go try. We could see our daughters doing what Safiya is doing, what Amaya is doing.’
“Yes, you can still do it in salwar kameez. It means you don’t have to wear modern clothes or Western clothes.”
Amaya practices her form on the family's trampoline as her mom Madiha looks on. Below, she skateboards around the kitchen island at her family’s home in Calgary.
Ms. Mohammed, who moved to Canada at 14, recalls how in some communities in her native Pakistan, teenaged girls playing sports was frowned upon. She even had to give her bike away – to a boy.
“I remember how devastated I was,” she says.
“People of colour have a place here. People of colour have to work really hard to make spaces in a lot of sports and in a lot of places. So I wish for somebody somewhere to see and say, ‘The places (for participation in all sports) are already there.’ ”
Top, Amaya practices on a ramp in her family’s basement. Below, dressed in her salwarkameez, Amaya skates at a local park.