Photos: Kids in Yup'ik village of Kwethluk embrace the art of skateboarding

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 19

Ian Fischer, 9, left, and Evan Waska, 13, watch Ethan Nicolai, 13, practice a trick at the Kwethluk skate park on Friday, August 7, 2015. The park, which was built with money from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation diabetes prevention program, is unique in a rural Alaska village.

KWETHLUK -- Constructed a year ago on the old airstrip, Kwethluk's $200,000 skatepark stands out as a rural Alaska novelty and also as something more.

Those behind the project call it a fun place for children and teens to become healthy, fit and confident. It also injects a hip skateboarding scene into a rich, traditional Yup'ik Eskimo culture where the modern sport of choice long has been basketball and families still get salmon, moose and berries for their winter's food.

"It takes you out of mainstream ways of thinking and lets you look at the world differently," said Brian Berube, the driving force for the park.

The nearby Western Alaska hub of Bethel has a noisy metal skateboard park. Kwethluk's is quiet and state-of-the-art. It may be unique for a village in rural Alaska.

Whether it will bring a lasting impact, no one knows. It's good for now, most people say.

Read more: Kids in Yup'ik village of Kwethluk embrace the art of skateboarding