When our editors stumbled upon the #DinéSkateGardenProject, we were instantly onboard with bringing awareness to this project. A video surfaced of Naiomi Glasses, a Navajo skateboarder and artist riding her board down a mountain rock face in an isolated part of Navajo land. The Nat-Geo like clip was a call to skateboarders and the world to showcase how the Navajo Nation, with only a few skateparks, is left with little to no opportunities to foster their skate community. The quest for a skatepark on Navajo Nation, caught the attention of Tony Hawk, and now, partnering with musical artist Jewel and Inspiring Children and their friends from Wonders Around the World Org, the Orenda Tribe announced their goal to build a transformative space for Diné Youth and their families.
When we first shared the story of the Diné Skate Garden Project, we quickly found out there was much more to learn about the scope of the project, especially in regards to the Navajo people and culture. We were fortunate enough to reach out to Naiomi who connected us to Amy Denet Deal (Yeung), founder of the Orenda Tribe and one of the key players in the skatepark.
What quickly followed was an interview of both of these amazing women in skateboarding, who together alongside the skateboarding community have helped to amplify this project to well on its way of accomplishing the $100,000 goal to begin building in September. But we also wanted to know how the Navajo Skateboarder lives. What types of challenges await them, as well as the stories of these two amazing indigenous women. Together, we can all help Navajo Nation secure a skatepark that will give the gift of skateboarding to the youth of these communities. So without further ado, we present to you our interviews with Naiomi Glasses and Amy Denet Deal (Yeung).
Words by Zane Foley
Photographs courtesy of Orenda Tribe
Amy Denet Deal (Yeung) Founder of Orenda Tribe
What are some of the things people might not know about Navajo Nation?
It’s always a good idea to start off with how much land it is: It’s 27,000 square miles. Last year, we were doing Covid relief where we delivered 43 thousand care boxes all over Navajo Nation. It’s such a massive land area. Most people only drive through the border towns and have never really been in the remote areas. It’s a lot of land, people live very remote, mostly dirt roads and hardly any infrastructure.
How does this isolate affect young people in the community?
Kids just don’t get the same opportunities they would if they lived closer to an urban area or even a border town. Even the kids that live near a place like Flagstaff, where they have a skate park or at least there’s an easier way for kids to get to a place like that in 30 minutes. Kids that live in the dead center of the [Navajo] reservation, it’s like an hour and a half to two hours just to even go to a grocery store, let alone a skatepark.
Was this your main motivation for choosing Two Grey Hills as the location for the skatepark?
People always ask me, aren’t you going to go where the most kids are? But the thing is, there are so many kids out there in the smaller communities. And it’s those kids who don’t have access to these types of parks. Now they’ll be able to drive half-an-hour and go to a skatepark instead of never getting that chance. I am super committed to remote areas because those are the kids who really need us the most.
When did you realize or how did it come together that skateboarding could be very impactful to these kids and to these areas?
I am Diné but I never grew up on the reservation. I came back at 55 to reintegrate in New Mexico and to go see how I could help. I’ve had a career for 35 years in active sports as a fashion designer. I’ve worked within all types of sports including skateboarding. So for me to come back and kind of assess and go visit communities, visit schools and be with the kids, it was super clear to me that we needed more outdoor sports and activities which don’t cost a lot of money to do. We need sports that are there for any time of the day and time of the year to keep these kids busy. Because when kids are busy, you keep them out of trouble. Keep a kid engaged in sport and they’re just on a different trajectory in their life than if they didn’t. We have tons of land right? We don’t really have roads, but we have the land. So for me to invest in long term solutions means building skateparks, that just makes a lot of sense to me. Skateboarding is also just a different thing. It’s a different type of confidence.
What is skateboarding capable of creating in terms of community in your opinion?
It’s capable of pulling the community together. Again, with the lack of community spaces in remote areas, a skatepark is a type of infrastructure to bring the community together. It’s also why we’re building a garden around the park and actually looking at the land as something that we want to honor. It’s just going to create a different community space for families. It’s one of those things hopefully everyone is going to be able to participate in.
You mentioned the local community is at the core of the Diné Skate Garden Project?
We’re actually building it with the community, not just for the community. That’s a huge part of designing it. Together, we’re putting together a task force of kids from the school, probably 8th graders [laughs] and really ask them, what do they want it to look like. We will also definitely honor the Tribal Council in charge of the region in planning and designing it. It will be really fun, all of us out there together getting concrete on our hands and just building it. It’s just one of those things that will bring a lot of light to the area. I can feel it already.
We actually discovered your project through the Tony Hawk post. Can you speak on what it means to have a figure like Tony Hawk support the Diné Skate Garden Project?
The kids as soon as they saw Tony Hawk give them a shout out, the kids lost their minds, [laughs]. They are so excited. And we’ve talked to Tony Hawk. He’s such a good dude. I’m sure something really magically is going to happen. He’s got the skatepark project that he runs and he definitely knows Jewel who is also helping us with the park. Apparently they are friends and they talked about how he is so excited to be on the program with us. He has so much amazing knowledge about skatepark building and after play, we’ve already spoken to them (Skatepark Project) and they are for sure going to help. That’s the thing, when you have people from heart-led organizations, it’s all about how we all love doing this and we all love doing this for kids. We’ve had really magical conversations happening.
Can you talk about what it was like seeing Naiomi shouted out by Tony Hawk?
That was such a huge moment for our Diné community. To see indigenous communities be supported and acknowledged like that. To have one of our skateboarders acknowledged like that. It was truly an amazing offering.
One thing I really noticed about this project and everyone involved is a real commitment to the art and indigenous tradition being involved. How do you make a skatepark a Navajo skatepark? Is it from the land? The ceremony? The art? The construction?
All of the above really, but it starts with Wonders Around the World and building skateparks all around the world in remote areas. We have the most amazing team that is doing the build. We’re also working with Diné elders, consultants and architects; people who actually come from our culture to work with us and work with them on the design. So it will be highly technically from the building and design point. We’ll be working with Tribal leaders and elders on all the cultural aspects that need to happen. For example, the four sacred directions will be a big part and the four sacred mountains. Where the park opens and it’s entrance will be facing the East. We’re following all the traditional ways things are built in our culture, whether that be a house or a skatepark.
It’s also an area called Two Grey Hills, which if you know anything about Navajo weaving, this is where some of our most treasured and elevated weavers come from. Families who have kids at this school, which is right where we’re building the skatepark, are some of the most fantastic weavers. So we are definitely including aspects of weaving into the skatepark and the land. Including the surrounding garden we are going to build around the park. It’s really about honoring the space and the Navajo people.
How do you make sure the skatepark honors and attributes the Navajo people even with groups and people outside your community play their part?
It first comes from conversation. It’s the main thing with anyone who wants to do something on indigenous land. Engaging in the local people and having conversations about what the local people want and what would help them. How do we do this together? It helps that I am Dine because I can be the bridge between the inside and the outside. Creative arts empowerment, mutual aid, food delivery.
Can we rewind this back a bit and talk about why this location? There are 5-6 skateparks in Navajo Nation but this is the first one in New Mexico?
We chose this location because it’s very remote. To be honest, if you go right directly between Ship Rock and Gallup, (New Mexico); which are two border towns. Exactly halfway in between is Two Grey Hills. If you go to the East of that, there’s a wide area of remote communities that could easily access the park from a main highway. It would be servicing a lot of kids I met, a lot of kids I delivered mutual aid to. I know those schools and I know those kids, so it really is the perfect location. If you look at the film we did and you look at the drone footage, it’s in a beautiful area right next to the Chuska Mountains. A little mountain range that connects Arizona and New Mexico to the reservation.
How do you think the kids will feel once the skatepark is completed?
I just know kids are going to wake up and can’t wait to go there. That’s what we wanted to bring to the reservation, that joy of self important from sport. Confidence. You know when you can’t wait to wake up the next day to do something? That’s what we want to bring to that community and to those kids. And we’re having a lot of fun doing it too.
Tribal lands have their own set of laws and often when dealing with indigenous land access from outsiders, things can be tricky. Is this park going to be completely open to the public?
Before the pandemic, this community and its weavers had already set up trading posts and tourism areas, so it is a community that is used to having people from the outside and welcoming them as well. So people can learn about the culture and learn about what they do. I think there needs to be more places like this, that build bridges. Where natives and non-natives can come together and share space. This is a place for everyone. We’re hoping we get pro skaters and people who want to teach workshops here because workshops and after play are going to be a big part of it. We’re hoping we get a big response from people who want to teach and who want to help spread the sport to the indigenous kids out there.
Have you received messages from people who want to help and support your project?
We appreciate you guys amplifying our message so much. People sharing the posts and articles is exactly how the crowd funding is going to work. We’re currently at $58,000 in just over two weeks. And it’s really insane. 100k is the goal and anything we raise after that is going to the after play. That’s the part we’re going to work on after the skatepark is constructed. Longevity and sustainability are the objectives we have for the kids. It’s not just this generation but the next. Like what happens when their board breaks or their skateboard gets stolen and there’s not a skate shop for several hours? Not to mention the medical care. There is an hour and a half away from the nearest medical facility, so we’re really starting that round of meetings with our partners to get that all rounded off too. It’s going to be a really beautiful environment, with so many people coming together with their hands into the ground making this happen.
Naiomi Glasses, Navajo Weaver and Skateboarder
How did you first discover skateboarding and when did you fall in love with it?
I first discovered skateboarding when I was six years old. When I was younger, I lived in a suburb. I remember seeing this person skate by our house and I thought it was super cool. Then I eventually had my chance to stand on one and push around a bit. From that moment forward, I was hooked, [laughs]. And yeah, skateboarding has been there for me ever since.
You shared a photograph of you as a young kid sitting on your skateboard in what appears to be your driveway. Can you talk about that photograph and how much skateboarding meant to you as a young kid?
When I was a kid, I was one of few children in general who skated. On top of that, I was the only girl my age I knew who skated. There were times kids would make fun of my appearance because of my cleft lip and I would look forward to the end of the school day when I could skate and focus on something that made me happy. I’m thankful to say, skateboarding has remained my happy place.
How did your family and the community see you as a skater? In other words, did they pressure you to quit or support you?
My family has always supported me in everything I’ve tried. In fact, it was my older brother TJ who brought home a skateboard that he brought off one of his high school friends. Then once I got really into it, I dragged my parents to our local skate shop to beg them to get me a skateboard of my own. They bought me a mini deck with the kid-sized everything.
Can you talk about the challenges presented to you as a skateboarder with little to no access to a skatepark/skate shop nearby?
When I first moved back to the reservation, I thought I wouldn’t be able to skate again and that sounds so dramatic, but I was 12 and it seemed like the end of the world. I had come from a place where there was a skatepark that was ten minutes away then compared it to having to travel 45 minutes either way to skate at a park. I feel that whenever I get a chance to go to a skate park, I definitely take advantage of it and if I can. I try to make a whole day out of it.
You are a Native artist, can you tell us about some of your artwork and where people can find it?
I am a Navajo weaver. My pieces range from wearing blankets, to saddle blankets to bags. Each piece is hand-woven with wool and it’s a very time consuming craft, but the end result of each piece definitely makes it worth the hard work. People can find my work on my website: www.naiomiglasses.com. I post pieces as I finish them, and I usually I post them first on my Instagram so it’s best to catch me there: @naiomiglasses
What is your relationship with skateboarding like today?
Sometimes after a day of weaving I drive to the skatepark and skate. I figure out many of my weaving designs or project ideas as I relax while skating. Of course during this time because of the pandemic we can’t congregate, so I skate places I find around home when I want to ride. In my adulthood, it is still the same. Back when I was a child, skating allowed me to use my time on my board to think. For me, my skateboarding the majority of the time isn’t about doing tricks but riding. Skateboarding helps me to process, it helps me imagine and execute my visions for whatever task is at hand.
Can you describe what it’s like being a Navajo skateboarder?
There are only a couple of skateparks currently on Navajo land. If you can visualize, the Navajo Nation spans over 4 states and covers 17,544,500 acres or the size of West Virginia. And so, it is quite the drive to enjoy the skate scene, [laughs]. One of the skateparks nearest to my home, is a 45 minute drive. You can imagine how in High School I would ask my parents if I could spend a couple hours after school skating and how much of a commitment that was. Not just for me but all the Navajo skaters. To make that drive for other skaters who don’t have a car or license or parents like mine, sometimes I wouldn’t see everyone until the annual skate competition that was held by the Township.
Can you talk about how you first got involved with the Diné Skate Garden Project? When did you realize the gravity of this project?
Obviously, because of this pandemic, I haven’t been to a skatepark anywhere so I skate the red rocks near home. That’s how you saw that TikTok video that went viral and my skate project with Orenda Tribe and the amazing photographer Tomás Karmelo. I truly believe in giving back and that was a way to spotlight the fundraiser for a new skatepark for the skateboarders of Two Grey Hills. To me it’s so important that children be allowed a place where they can be themselves, where they can become confident in whatever they choose to do. My skating has given me the confidence to walk into any arena with confidence and being true to myself. I want every child to have that.
If there is one thing this skatepark provides/accomplishes for Diné Youth, what would that be?
Skateboarding is such a powerful medium, you have to face the fear of falling as you learn to balance. I’m not a professional [laughs] but I mean, to do the tricks that these pro skaters do is amazing. You have to decide that even though you may hurt yourself, you are willing to risk failure in order to land that trick. Having a local skatepark allows that one person who decides to face themselves the opportunity to soar. That is exactly what skateboarding gave me as a child. Skateparks never expire and the kids who took an interest at a young age, they will always have the park there to go back to. It’s a place that I feel will bring a lot for the children, whether it’s in the form of healing or even the next SOTY, who knows?
There are so many rad people involved with this project, from Tony Hawk, Jewel, to yourself and Orenda Tribe. Can you talk about what that support means to you personally?
I love that so many have joined this project. It’s really helping to get this park to be completed faster. Seriously, to have a powerhouse skater like Tony Hawk joining this; it brought all those who skate for fun and professionally to see the need our Navajo Nation has for skateparks. And for Tony Hawk, Jewel, Orenda Tribe and Tomás Karmelo to bring their notoriety to the project. It allows the world to participate in building a dream for the youth of Toadlena and the Two Grey Hills area.
What do you wish people understood about the Navajo skateboarder experience?
The hardest part of the Navajo skateboarder experience is having to travel. From my standpoint, it takes 45 minutes to get to a skatepark and then if I need a new skateboard, I would have to travel 2-3 hours for a skate shop. It’s a big effort to skate, especially when you live in such a rural area.
Amplifying and donations are the obvious way to support this project, but how can people continue to support this project and the Navajo skate community?
I believe that the best way to support indigenous skate communities in general is to amplify. I see so many Natives that skate who just need a platform to be seen. A simple like, follow, or share can help tremendously in letting them be seen which will then lead to more opportunities.
Anyone you would like to thank? Anything you would like to mention? Now is the time.
Of course, I would like to thank God and my family for being there for me always. They gave me all of the courage I need. My parents are my biggest cheerleaders and have shown me so much love and support through every phase of my life. My siblings for always going along with me on every project, whether they become makeup/hair artists for the day or run around on a photo shoot to make amazing photos happen or even just sharing their advice. This is a reminder to so many families, that your love and support definitely matters and is extremely impactful on the children. Thank you to Skateism for helping bring awareness and the skateboard community in general for coming together to support Diné skaters.
Skateism invites you to join in what the Orenda Tribe are calling, “A love offering for our children,” and their goal of raising $100k to start building as early as September. The Orenda Tribe are asking to help amplify this project of love for their future generations. At Skateism, just as the Orenda Tribe and everyone involved with the Diné Skate Garden Project, we want to support this remote indigenous community by helping Naomi and the Orenda Tribe provide a safe and inclusive public skatepark to empower strength and resilience after the hardships faced during this pandemic.
With just a few clicks or finger dabs on your phone, there are several ways you can help a skatepark on Navajo Nation. For starters, you can text GOSKATE to 707070 to donate your “love offering” today and head over to Orenda Tribe’s Linktree, to join the Diné Skate Garden Project benefit. The website includes shopping authentic Navajo merchandise and artwork directly or through the Shine Light auctions and a calendar to all their upcoming fundraisers and events. No matter how you donate, 100% of proceeds go to the Diné Skate Garden Project and help support this indigenous community and their quest for a skatepark on Navajo Nation. With the support of skateboarding, the Navajo Nation is well on their way to having this skatepark.
You can follow @orendatribe and @naiomiglasses on Instagram for more ways to support Navajo Nation and support the Diné Skate Garden Project.
