{"id":108033,"date":"2026-08-21T08:37:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T12:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=108033"},"modified":"2026-08-21T08:37:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T12:37:18","slug":"mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee skateboard program empowering youth, looks to revamp community park"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook \u00ceY\u00c2RHE NAKODA \u2013 On Wednesday nights in M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee, you\u2019ll find Mark Kaquitts and River Holloway at the skatepark. Holloway can land a mean ollie and makes a kickflip look easy but the skaters aren\u2019t there for themselves, they\u2019re there for the youth. \u201cI\u2019m using skateboarding as a tool for the youth\u2019s hearts,\u201d said Kaquitts, founder of Nakoda Skate and Snow, the longest running weekly skate program on the reserve. For Kaquitts, it\u2019s about empowering \u00cey\u00e2rhe (Stoney) Nakoda kids by placing a skateboard in their hand, showing up to the park every week \u2013 with free pizza and pop \u2013 and providing a safe place for them to shred. \u201cA lot of these kids don\u2019t have the right support system… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook \u00ceY\u00c2RHE NAKODA \u2013 On Wednesday nights in M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee, you\u2019ll find Mark Kaquitts and River Holloway at the skatepark. Holloway can land a mean ollie and makes a kickflip look easy but the skaters aren\u2019t there for themselves, they\u2019re there for the youth. \u201cI\u2019m using skateboarding as a tool for the youth\u2019s hearts,\u201d said Kaquitts, founder of Nakoda Skate and Snow, the longest running weekly skate program on the reserve. For Kaquitts, it\u2019s about empowering \u00cey\u00e2rhe (Stoney) Nakoda kids by placing a skateboard in their hand, showing up to the park every week \u2013 with free pizza and pop \u2013 and providing a safe place for them to shred. \u201cA lot of these kids don\u2019t have the right support system... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nM\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee skateboard program empowering youth, looks to revamp community park - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee skateboard program empowering youth, looks to revamp community park - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook \u00ceY\u00c2RHE NAKODA \u2013 On Wednesday nights in M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee, you\u2019ll find Mark Kaquitts and River Holloway at the skatepark. Holloway can land a mean ollie and makes a kickflip look easy but the skaters aren\u2019t there for themselves, they\u2019re there for the youth. \u201cI\u2019m using skateboarding as a tool for the youth\u2019s hearts,\u201d said Kaquitts, founder of Nakoda Skate and Snow, the longest running weekly skate program on the reserve. For Kaquitts, it\u2019s about empowering \u00cey\u00e2rhe (Stoney) Nakoda kids by placing a skateboard in their hand, showing up to the park every week \u2013 with free pizza and pop \u2013 and providing a safe place for them to shred. \u201cA lot of these kids don\u2019t have the right support system\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-21T12:37:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/21\\\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/21\\\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee skateboard program empowering youth, looks to revamp community park\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-21T12:37:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/21\\\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":936,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/21\\\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/21\\\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\\\/\",\"name\":\"M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee skateboard program empowering youth, looks to revamp community park - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-21T12:37:18+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/21\\\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/21\\\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/21\\\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee skateboard program empowering youth, looks to revamp community park\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee skateboard program empowering youth, looks to revamp community park - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee skateboard program empowering youth, looks to revamp community park - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook \u00ceY\u00c2RHE NAKODA \u2013 On Wednesday nights in M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee, you\u2019ll find Mark Kaquitts and River Holloway at the skatepark. Holloway can land a mean ollie and makes a kickflip look easy but the skaters aren\u2019t there for themselves, they\u2019re there for the youth. \u201cI\u2019m using skateboarding as a tool for the youth\u2019s hearts,\u201d said Kaquitts, founder of Nakoda Skate and Snow, the longest running weekly skate program on the reserve. For Kaquitts, it\u2019s about empowering \u00cey\u00e2rhe (Stoney) Nakoda kids by placing a skateboard in their hand, showing up to the park every week \u2013 with free pizza and pop \u2013 and providing a safe place for them to shred. \u201cA lot of these kids don\u2019t have the right support system","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-08-21T12:37:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee skateboard program empowering youth, looks to revamp community park","datePublished":"2026-08-21T12:37:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/"},"wordCount":936,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/","name":"M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee skateboard program empowering youth, looks to revamp community park - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-08-21T12:37:18+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/mini-thni-skateboard-program-empowering-youth-looks-to-revamp-community-park\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee skateboard program empowering youth, looks to revamp community park"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108034,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108033\/revisions\/108034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}