You’re Skating on Native Land
Apache Skate Team Visits Las Vegas
By V. Koelkebeck
The Apache Skate Team
Amidst a mountain of pizzas, blank skateboard decks, zine kits, and a wealth of free stickers, a UNLV panel discussion commenced on Feb. 28 that explored Apache youth and Youth of Color skate culture.
The panel included Douglas Miles Sr., founder of Apache Skateboards, members of the Apache Skate Team, Dr. Noah Romero, assistant professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies at Hampshire College, and Bash, co-owner of Death Drop Roller Skate Shop off south Decatur Blvd.
I had the pleasure of joining the second day of the event to talk to Douglas Miles Sr. at Craig Ranch Skate Park as skateboards and roller skates went sailing through the air around us.
“I think what makes skateboarding revolutionary is the fact that the skate industry is pretty much a white dominated industry, but we are the longest standing Native American skate group, skate brand and skate company,” Doug Sr. explains. “We are constantly working, doing demos, consultation events, community building, skate park planning, art projects, design projects, branding and co-branding — all in the last 20 years.”
Cecely does an ollie with Douglas Miles Sr. watching in the background.
After watching The Mystery of Now by Audrey Buchanan, I got to know Doug through the brand Apache’s origin story and how skating connects the San Carlos Apache Reservation youth to their culture.
“There are a lot of ways to talk about decolonization. The word decolonization is really just a fancy way to talk about the deconstruction and/or disruption of old and tired systems,” he elaborates over a board dragging across a nearby rail. “You know, [systems] that don’t have much diversity — like skateboarding, they need a brand like Apache Skateboards to talk about that. And we’re not just diversity, we’re not checking a box — this is our life.”
A panel attendee shows off the skateboard deck they designed.
Although Vegas doesn’t have an exclusive group for Indigenous skateboarders (yet), Doug says that Apache Skateboards is willing to make the trip back from Arizona. “Las Vegas is kind of a center for art and creativity in a lot of ways that it doesn’t get credit for,” he says.
Stay tuned for Apache Skateboard’s next visit to Las Vegas by connecting with them on social media: Instagram: instapache1 or subscribe to news and updates via: ApacheSkateboards.Com
From the Apache Skate Team online store.
