On September 22, skateboard wheels whizzed across concrete at the Two Grey Hills Skate Park on the Navajo Nation, skirts and beads whipping in the wind as the boarders tried out new tricks. The girls — with their skateboards — had gathered for the Modern Matriarch Skate Jam, a skate competition that was started to uplift Indigenous women skateboarders.
"[Modern Matriarch Skate Jam] was created with the vision to provide a platform for Native skateboarders to showcase their skills and talents in an inclusive and supportive environment," Amy Denet Deal, Diné founder of 4KINSHIP and Diné Skate Garden Project and an organizer of the event, tells Teen Vogue via email. 4KINSHIP and GRLSWIRL, a skateboarding group that encourages inclusion in the sport, partnered up for the event.
Skateboarding is often a male-dominated space and can be filled largely with white skaters. Denet Deal's Diné Skate Garden Project offers space for Native boarders to exercise their craft, and the Modern Matriarch Skate Jam has encouraged girls to get in on the fun. In a video of the event, skateboarder and graphic designer Peyton Alex said the event connected “all the nieces and aunties together in the skateboard world so we can keep supporting each other.” She and other veteran skaters like Rosie Archie showed the girls in attendance that boarding is a skill they can extend beyond their childhood and teen years.
The event didn't just enrich the participants' skate skills, it was an empowering opportunity that the girls who attended can carry with them on and off the board. “Movements we find within skateboarding are similar to life’s ups (landing tricks) and life’s downs (falling attempting tricks). Always getting back up and striving for a positive outcome,” said Di'Orr Greenwood, Diné skater and founder of Woodburn Skateboards. “Skateboarding is empowering the Native youth through connection to their bodies (being healthy to skate), their communication with their peers (skate meets/contest), and connection to earth (connection to land).”
Gathering within a community in that way can be empowering in itself, and it is particularly unique at skate parks.
Neftalie Williams, PhD, a sociologist at USC, previously told Teen Vogue that skate parks are one of the few public spaces that encourage people of all ages to come together. “There is a lot of intergenerational communication happening," Dr. Williams said. "That means there’s a shared knowledge.”
According to Denet Deal, this event was — hopefully — the first of many. She would like to expand the event in the future, offering more Native girls the opportunity to hit the pavement. “By creating more opportunities for young girls to engage in skateboarding and other activities, the hope is that they will develop confidence, skills, and a sense of community that will carry over into other aspects of their lives,” Denet Deal explains. “Our goal is to create a lasting impact on these young women, empowering them to break through barriers and become leaders in their own communities.”
