Filmmakers Audrey Buchanan, Carlos Reyes, and Kaylee Cole explore how skateboarding helps members of the San Carlos Apache tribe reclaim their stories and culture.

Artist and Apache Skateboards founder Douglas Miles started a skateboard brand alongside youth leaders on the San Carlos Apache reservation, a vehicle to share advice on cultivating resilience, creativity, and joy in an uncertain, polarized world.

“The Mystery of Now” is a “visual meditation about life on the Apache nation via lived experience of Apache Skateboards,” Miles says. “It’s a soulfully joyous glimpse into hard-edged lives of Native kids becoming artists, musicians, skaters, creatives, and leading in their community using art, music, and skateboarding as a means of expression and power."

Miles is one of many artists, cultural alchemists, and unapologetic joy creators who are stepping forward across cultures and ideologies to help make sense of what’s happening around us

Unlock this story for free
Create an account to read the full story and get unlimited access to hundreds of Nat Geo articles.

Unlock this story for free

Want the full story? Sign up to keep reading and unlock hundreds of Nat Geo articles for free.
Already have an account?
SIGN IN

Read This Next

Why are these orcas killing sharks and removing their livers?
How to eat in 6 of the world’s most stunning places
Cliff art reveals the majesty of the Amazon’s aquatic realm

Go Further

Subscriber Exclusive Content

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet