Urban Native Era CEO hits the waves..

Urban Native Era CEO hits the waves..

Many of you may remember a previous article I wrote on Joey Montoya, a San Jose State University student who started a Native site called Urban Native Era.

Well, he is STILL achieving greatness in all of his doings. Joey spoke with me a month ago about his love of Skating and Surfing, and how he felt those two lifestyles were important for our Native Youth. Joey had this to say about his new site and his brand called Native Wave.

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“While traveling around for almost a year, I visited many communities. One of the many things I noticed was the importance of our youth, and the importance of certain activities outside of school; Surfing and Skateboarding being just a few. This Native American brand is dedicated to surfers and skateboarders, but most importantly our youth.
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Not only does this brand show that Indigenous people surf and skate, but it also shows that we are still here. What I hope for this brand to be is an outlet for native youth. I remember being sent to a skate camp while I was young. Although this was a scary experience for me, I was able to learn a lot and be able to take everything else out of my mind and focus all my energy in skateboarding. Once this takes off I hope to have surf/skate camps for native youth, build skate parks on reservations, and be able to contribute in any way we can for our youth.”

Do you know a native youth who skates or surfs?

Spark a conversation with our youth, talk in your own home about why surfing and skating is important to them, and how it can also connect them to nature and to each other.

Now more than ever it is important for us to understand our youth, reach out to them and merge traditional values with modern aspects. Many youth describe being in the waves as spiritual. Could your community benefit from having a skate park? Surf camps? What do you think?

Check out Native Wave.



Last Updated on February 8, 2024 by Paul G


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