As Native American Heritage Month kicks off, San Carlos Apache-Akimel O’odham artist Douglas Miles is working to create art that provides a voice for Indigenous communities year-round.
Born and raised in Phoenix, Miles began drawing at a young age and has been painting murals for over 10 years. He started out as a fine artist, selling original paintings and drawings, and later launched his company Apache Skateboards.
In and around downtown Phoenix, Miles has been known to sell art and his skateboards at various fairs and events, including in the Historic Grand Avenue arts district. He has also painted murals in the area, including an expansive mural called Let’s Get Free for Bentley Gallery in Phoenix’s warehouse district as part of the springtime mural event Paint Phx 2016.
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“I use art to express my culture with photos, films, paintings, murals, skateboards,” Miles said. “There really is no limit to what I use and how I use art to share culture.”
Miles said that art allows people of all cultures to share parts of themselves with the world regardless of the medium.
“When Native people use art, it’s a very pure form of self-expression that comes from the heart,” Miles said.
Miles painted a large mural on Oct. 19, on the fourth floor of Arizona State University’s Lattie F. Coor Hall in collaboration with the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies during its first annual Humanities Week.
SHPRS selected Miles as its first-ever Distinguished Artist in Residence. ASU students and professors watched Miles create his artwork live as he discussed the Native narrative.
“We talked about the Native American narrative as something that needs to be shared constantly,” Miles said. “Not just during Native American Heritage Month, not just during anti-Columbus Day, and not just during racist sports mascot rallies.”
Miles explained the importance of remembering the people who took care of the land and still take care of the land today.
“These cultures and the tribes are not only remembered but their voices are heard,” Miles said. “Sharing the Native American narrative is about making a place for voices to be heard.”
Bernard Navarro, a Native American and anchor of the 7th Generation Podcast, uses his platform to talk about Indigenous matters.
“Doug is one of the best artists that we have in the nation,” Navarro said. “His art has a deep meaning.”
Navarro said he admires the way Miles represents Indigenous women and depicts Apache culture.
“He puts in a lot of work, and he’s somebody that deserves a lot of credit for opening a lot of doors for other Indigenous artists to have the opportunity to share their art,” Navarro said.
As a professor at Fresno City College, Navarro said he thinks it’s important to provide room for Indigenous artists and scholars in any university.
“The United States is basically just one big Indian reservation,” Navarro said. “Native people should have a space to be able to share their culture.”
Richard Amesbury, SHPRS director, led the open house during Humanities Week at which Miles created live art. He explained the value of using artwork to express cultural diversity.
“Ours is a time in which we need new monuments, works of public art that speak to our history and help us imagine our world differently,” Amesbury said.
Amesbury said SHPRS felt honored to watch Miles’ artistic process unfold, beginning with a sketch, and leading to a 16-foot-long mural celebrating Arizona’s Indigenous people.
“It’s often said that art is a process, not just the finished product. But it’s rare to get to witness that process,” Amesbury said. “It has completely transformed the space in which we work.”
While Miles intended to create artwork that shared parts of his own Apache history, he said he also wanted to visually share the Native American voice.
“It serves as a pacemaker and a reminder of not only whose land we’re on, but also of who our neighbors are and who we’re going to school with and who we can actually learn from,” Miles said.
Contact the reporter at mstaubs@asu.edu.
