“We didn’t set out to be the first Native-woman-owned brewery in the United States, but I’m told we are,” says Shyla Sheppard, founder of Bow & Arrow Brewing Co. She and her partner, Missy Begay, take inspiration from the American Southwest, incorporating traditional Indigenous ingredients into their craft beers. Sheppard, who grew up in western North Dakota, a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa & Arikara Nation), learned much about her heritage from her grandmother. Begay, meanwhile, was born in Albuquerque and raised on the Navajo (Diné) Nation. The couple use those experiences to inform their beermaking, bringing a diverse perspective to the industry.
PIX: Shyla serves customers in a bright, modern bar.
Shyla SOT: Prickly pear is kind of melon-y. Like really fresh melon-y.
Shyla (v/o): We didn’t set out to be the first Native woman-owned brewery in the United States, but I’m told we are.
PIX: Native workers craft beer in Shyla’s brewery.
Shyla (v/o): I think our existence, the thoughtfulness that we put into the products we produce, the way we tell our stories and that connection to the land, I think it surprises a lot of people.
PIX: Bright, grand landscapes of the American Southwest–mesas, Native graffiti, orange-brown earth. Back to Shyla serving customers.
Shyla (v/o): We are inspired by the American Southwest–the mesas, the special places, the people, the history and the culture, and that's reflected in the beers we make.
PIX: Shyla slides a beer across the bar.
TITLE: Native Roots
PIX: The rich, grassy prairies of North Dakota. A sign welcomes visitors to Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. A Native art piece states “We are still here.”
Shyla (v/o): I grew up on the prairies of Western North Dakota, on the Fort Berthold Reservation, home to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.
L/T: Shyla Sheppard – CEO + Co-Founder – Bow & Arrow Brewery
Shyla: I have many fond memories.
PIX: Native Americans race horses along a river’s edge.
Shyla (v/o): I grew up running the hills above the lake, riding horses with my cousins.
PIX: Childhood photos of Shyla as a baby and young girl.
Shyla (v/o): It was primarily my mom and I growing up, and I'm an only child but I have a large family.
PIX: Photos of Shyla’s grandmother as a young and old woman, alternating contemporary and Native clothing.
Shyla (v/o): My grandma, Wanda Fox Shepherd, was one of 15 children. She would make our traditional foods. She would educate others on our traditions.
Shyla: She would tell us about her own grandmother and the large garden that they kept.
PIX: Shyla feeds chickens in her garden.
Shyla (v/o): She was very loving, but at the same time, she was a realist.
PIX: Photos of Shyla, as a girl and young woman, in MHA formal wear.
Shyla (v/o): She would just tell us, "You're going to have to work harder than other people not from the reservation, because we're not on a level playing field."
Shyla: So when it came time for me to go to high school, the expectations of us, the kids being bussed from the res, they were very low.
PIX: Shyla works in her spacious brewery.
TEXT: Encouraged by her family, Shyla worked hard and was accepted at Stanford University where she majored in economics.
PIX: An aerial view of Stanford University.
Shyla (v/o): I felt fortunate to be at Stanford every day.
Shyla: There's a Native American community center. There's a lot of commonality, regardless of which reservation you come from.
PIX: Photo of Shyla and wife Missy celebrating.
TEXT: There, she met Missy Begay, a member of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico.
PIX: Shyla and Missy walk into Bow & Arrow Brewery together.
Shyla (v/o): We actually met at the Community Center in the computer lab. We started dating. We've been together ever since. It's been over 20 years.
PIX: Shyla and Missy pose for a photo in their gleaming chrome brewery.
Shyla (v/o): Missy and I both connected on our appreciation for craft beer.
PIX: Inside the brewery–bags of yeast, shiny copper taps, pallets of canned beer.
Shyla (v/o): Learning about yeast and the ingredients, the history, the geography, the science of craft beer. I think it really sparked our interest and curiosity.
PIX: A sunny view of Albuquerque’s mountains.
TEXT: After graduating in 2004, the couple moved to Albuquerque.
TEXT: Missy became a doctor. Shyla went into venture capital.
Shyla: I joined the founding team of this social impact investing fund. We focused on businesses whose services or products were focused on a greater good.
PIX: Customers enjoy beer on Bow & Arrow’s outdoor patio.
TEXT: In 2013, the couple began to develop the idea for a craft brewery.
Shyla (v/o): For the most part, craft beer, it's pretty homogenous in terms of, yeah, white, bearded men.
PIX: Shyla works on her laptop.
Shyla (v/o): That can make it challenging sometimes to approach people and build those relationships.
Shyla: Even with my background and experience, it was a very challenging process to navigate.
PIX: Behind Bow & Arrow’s bar, Shyla brings branded coasters to customers.
Shyla (v/o): I approached every bank in Albuquerque and was told no. Even though I had equity, I had a very detailed plan. I could talk through it, but I was told over and over and over, “We don't do startups.”
PIX: Shyla laughs and jokes with customers as they enjoy their beers.
TEXT: Shyla eventually found a bank that offered her a loan.
TEXT: Bow & Arrow Brewery opened in 2016.
PIX: Shyla and Missy sort through branded company T-shirts.
Shyla SOT: All right, so, these shirts are doing really well.
Shyla (v/o): Missy does the majority of concept development.
Shyla: She's very artistic, too, and so this has been her creative outlet.
PIX: At their laptop, Missy shows Shyla her hand-drawn designs for Bow & Arrow beer cans. We see shots of her finished products.
TEXT: The brewery makes a wide range of beers, often using locally sourced ingredients.
PIX: Shyla enters Santa Ana Grain Mill.
Shyla (v/o): We now source our blue corn from Tamaya, or the Santa Ana Pueblo.
PIX: Shyla meets Ray, the mill foreman, who is Native.
Shyla: We always highlight where our corn comes from. It means a lot to us that we're also doing business with another Native-owned business as well. So that's something that really aligns with our core values.
PIX: Ray leads Shyla into the grinding room.
Ray (v/o): So we do custom grinding. We do all 23 tribes in the state of New Mexico.
L/T: Ray Leon - Mill Foreman - Santa Ana Grain Mill
PIX: Ray shows Shyla the mills.
RayL Every tribe is different. So every tribe wants different TEXT:ures and different roasts. So we do that and that's what we use this mill for.
Shyla: So for our coarse grind, is it run through just this one?
Ray: Yes, it does.
Shyla: It's super gritty, grittier than what they normally make for some of their other products. They roast it for us, they crush the corn for us, and we buy it from them in 50-pound bags, 500 pounds at a time.
PIX: Shyla wanders her orchard of leafy trees. She searches the leaves for hops.
Shyla (v/o): It's been just a lot of fun when we are working with unique ingredients or introducing fruit. We have an orchard at our home that we've been tending to.
PIX: At Bow & Arrow Brewery, customers enjoy Shyla’s golden sour beer.
Shyla (v/o): The peaches ultimately ended up in a traditional golden sour beer that’s actually on draft right now. It is a tap room exclusive.
Shyla: And one that we are very proud of.
PIX: Shyla and Missy hunt for hops in the New Mexico desert.
TEXT: The couple searches for rare, long-forgotten plants, like the only hops indigenous to North America.
PIX: Driving up a deserted mountain highway.
Shyla (v/o): We went out looking for the wild NeoMexicanus hop. We know that it grows well, you know, above a certain altitude. We just kept driving, and then we got off to just like, stretch. I didn't walk very far.
Shyla: And I spotted that very distinct leaf.
PIX: Plants growing scaly green NeoMexicanus hops.
Shyla (v/o): They were giant, like, lush green hops.
PIX: Shyla and Missy pose triumphantly with the newly discovered hops.
Shyla (v/o): And it's funny with plants.
Shyla: Like growing up, my grandma, she said, “You really have to be like, in a positive mindset when you're going out and harvesting,” she said. “Because if you're not,” she said, “they'll hide from you.”
PIX: Shots of Missy’s final designed bottles; the bright, white interior of Bow & Arrow’s second location.
TEXT: In 2021, Bow & Arrow opened a second tap room in Farmington, New Mexico.
PIX: Shyla works around her farm and orchard; Albuquerque scenery.
Shyla (v/o): We're revisiting and wanting to learn how to carry forward methods of Native agriculture and growing practices. What we realize now is it's climate change and things. A lot of that Native knowledge in history was really rooted in science.
Shyla: And I think we're now rediscovering and relearning that.
PIX: A sweeping long shot of a tree-studded New Mexico mesa.
Shyla (v/o): And I think that's a really exciting thing to see and to be a part of.