You must always have the courage to say “yes.” You must put in the time. You must put in the effort to be good at what you do. I’ve always focused on being the best I can be. You also must be open. You must be willing to trust that abil-ity when opportunities present themselves. You must have the courage to take those opportunities. With all the brands that I work with, I believe in them and have a personal relationship with them. I couldn’t be more hon-ored to work with them. It’s been like a dream. It puts the art form out there on this incredible platform that goes way beyond my reach. Snowboards are sold worldwide. The Vans collection is sold all over the world. People everywhere can see these pieces and look more closely and read about our culture, read about our history. Taking it a step further too, every brand that I’ve worked with has given something back to my community. Lib Tech do-nated a portion of the board sales back to my tribe in Alaska. They used the funds to construct an arts campus. I recently went and taught there for the first time. I never set out to be a teacher, but I was asked to teach in Alaska and teach at the Port Townsend School of Woodwork-ing. Passing on my knowledge to the next generation is vital. I’ve also been working with the United Nations to create guidelines for Indigenous artists working within big global brands. There’s a shift in consciousness that’s happening worldwide where people are looking back to go forward, and they’re acknowledging Indig-enous knowledge. University of Alaska Anchorage professor Stephen Langdon coined the term “obligatory reciprocity” when he was talking about Tlingit culture. It means everything always must maintain this balance. That’s seen within our culture. It’s seen within this art form. You always maintain this balance, no matter what. Ev-erything always must preserve that. In the art form, you’ll see the symmetry, you’ll see the balance within it. That goes back to the whole belief that we must live in balance with each other, in bal-ance with nature, and in balance with the animals. LEFT Shark. 24”x36” Acrylic on canvas. Original art Lib Tech Double Dip model 20/21 & 21/22. ABOVE Pete Saari and I with all the Lib Tech Double Dip boards at his house in Washington. Tem-ple, Barrett, and Cannon Cummins came by for a barbecue this night. Temple baked an amazing cherry pie and brought a king salmon he caught the day before. Such a nice night. Photo: Annette Veihelmann JAMES JOHNSON 095
The Snowboarder's Journal The Snowboarder's Journal 21.4: Page 95
