Group items tagged

If we view the high rates of violence, substance abuse, and poverty experienced by Aboriginal families in the context of colonization and assimilation, we are able to shift the responsibility for the perceived deficits away from the individual and focus instead on the resilience many of these youth have demonstrated.

deliberate suppression and elimination of culture has left a legacy of intergenerational trauma

Simply put, colonization has everything to do with who gets to define reality and write the textbooks!

promoting youth assets within a framework that emphasizes cultural connection is a good fit for Aboriginal youth.

We need to promote strong youth within a holistic framework, rather than target single risk or problem behaviours in isolation.

How do mainstream organizations help support Aboriginal youth, families, and communities without further entrenching the existing power structures? We think the answer to that lies in how the work is approached. When youth are approached from a place of respect, a place that recognizes historical context, and a place of partnership, then this work can be achieved in a way that honours all participants.

organizations in the dominant culture have an obligation to find ways to offset historical wrongs by helping to bring about wider recognition of the immense value of indigenous knowledge and practices.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMMING 1. UNDERSTANDING AND INTEGRATING CULTURAL IDENTITY 2. INCREASING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT 3. FOSTERING YOUTH EMPOWERMENT 4. ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS

As much as programs can do, there are significant underlying structural and socioeconomic issues that need to be addressed.

The history of negative treatment of Aboriginal peoples through policies and programs that were designed to culturally suppress, oppress, and marginalize has created many risk factors. In addition, it has neutralized protective factors that were a natural part of traditional aboriginal cultures.

Intergenerational trauma is the transmission of emotional injuries from one generation to the next.

Historical loss has contributed to higher rates of various emotional and behavioural problems among Aboriginal peoples, including feelings of sadness, shame, anxiety, loss of concentration, isolation from and avoidance of other people, loss of sleep, and rage.

A strengths-based approach focuses on developing assets that are known protective factors, such as strong relationships, life skills, and school connectedness.

Many residential schools were essentially work farms that used the children for labour

Effective programs target multiple levels of influence, such as individuals, parents, school climate, and teacher training.

By definition, a comprehensive approach suggests a reasonable duration and cannot be achieved through single activities, such as a guest speaker or assembly, alone

These programs use interactive, skill-based strategies (such as role play) and do not rely solely on information and lecturing approaches to transfer skills. Life skills training is considered an effective intervention across cultural groups, particularly for individuals who face multiple risk factors.

Effective programs focus on factors known to be related to the problem behavior. Attitudes and skills, school connectedness, and coping skills are examples of appropriate prevention targets

The use of peers is important because youth identify more readily with these role models.

parental involvement is regarded as a critical component of effective prevention programs.

Effective programs recognize the complex ecology of youths’ lives and work to change these environments. For example, school-based programming may attempt to alter norms about help seeking and build the capacity of educators to respond to violence, thus altering the school environment.

Substance use and suicide prevention research has shown that a strong cultural identity can be a powerful protective factor for youth.

The concept of enculturation, or the extent to which individuals are embedded in their traditional cultural identity and practices, has emerged in recent research as an important protective factor for Aboriginal youth and adults.

Youth who are engaged in prosocial activities, their schools, and their communities exhibit fewer risk behaviours than peers who are not connected.

Cultural engagement is an important protective factor against a range of negative outcomes.

There are two types of empowerment that are important for youth, particularly those who belong to a culture that has been marginalized: personal empowerment and social empowerment.

To target youth empowerment, programs must provide opportunities and support for youth to become agents of social change.

Cultural identity is fundamental to how we see ourselves and the world

In the absence of such an understanding, identity may be equated with rejecting anything seen as part of the dominant culture. Too often that means a rejection of institutions, such as school, that will provide important skills and opportunities for youth in the long run. Thus, incorporating healthy and positive messages about cultural identity is a critical part of providing good service to Aboriginal youth.

Facilitate the development of meaningful relationships between youth and the older generation.

In contrast to acculturation, enculturation is manifested by practicing the traditional culture and self-reported cultural identity

Research is emerging that suggests that the degree to which Aboriginal peoples are embedded in their own culture, as opposed to the mainstream culture, is a resiliency factor against adversity.

The highest priority of residential schools was to "civilize" children by erasing their cultural identities and connection to their heritage

10. HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL IMAGES NEED TO BE BALANCED.

there are 50 to 60 indigenous languages (belonging to 11 major language families) spoken in Canada.

There are some traditions that are more universal and will resonate with a wider range of people. For example, the Seven Grandfather Teachings (right) are subscribed to in some form by a range of Aboriginal groups

Some English language names for specific tribes were based on derogatory terms

some communities prefer the term Nation to Reserve.

the phrase Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples denotes a possessive relationship that many Aboriginal people do not recognize

1. AWARENESS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY NEEDS TO BE WOVEN INTO EVERY STEP OF OUR ACTIVITIES .

POSITIVE ROLE MODELS FROM YOUTHS’ CULTURAL GROUPS ARE AN INCREDIBLE ASSET IN DEVELOPING A HEALTHY CULTURAL IDENTITY. All youth turn to their peers for issues of identity, and this process is amplified among youth who are not part of the dominant culture. Positive peer role models are incredible assets in this regard.

3. CULTURALLY RELEVANT TEACHINGS ARE BEST IDENTIFIED BY COMMUNITY PARTNERS.

4. CULTURAL IDENTITY NEEDS TO BE REFLECTED IN THE PROGRAM ENVIRONMENT.

5. CULTURAL COMPETENCE NEEDS TO BE FOSTERED AMONG PROFESSIONALS.

Non-Aboriginal youth and adults working with Aboriginal youth have an obligation to become educated about history, culture, and current events

6. TRADITIONS AND SYMBOLS ARE IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY (BUT THEY ARE NOT THE SUM OF IT).

7. DIFFERENT WAYS OF KNOWING NEED TO BE INCORPORATED INTO PROGRAMS.

For example, the use of a sharing circle reflects equality in some First Nations and Inuit cultures and may be more appropriate for Aboriginal youth than a lecture format.

One way to make almost any activity or program more culturally relevant is to incorporate a more holistic worldview of health and balance

A holistic program strives to incorporate a wellness model that balances all four needs. Spirituality in particular (often misunderstood as religion) is frequently absent from programs.

9. YOUTH NEED ACCESS TO CULTURALLY RELEVANT MATERIAL AND ALSO OPPORTUNITIES FOR SELF-REFLECTION.

Aboriginal is not a term that Indigenous People chose for themselves, and most individuals have more specific and accurate cultural identifiers that they prefer.

If done properly, youth engagement is a promising strategy for improving outcomes for youth, strengthening organizations, and creating systemic community change.

The greatest issue facing youth participants in the Violence is Preventable project is the need to heal from the painful experience of witnessing violence, before they can feel safe enough to trust the processes they are participating in." Shahnaz Rahman, BCYSTH.

Commitment to an Initiative An important component of engagement is being able to welcome youth who may differ in terms of their commitment to an initiative at the outset. Providing opportunities of varying intensity and duration will help engage a broader spectrum of youth

Lack of Trust. It is unlikely that successful youth engagement will emerge in the absence of a trusting relationship between an adult and a young person.

The Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement has an excellent resource available online that includes questions for adults to ask themselves to help create self-awareness about attitudes and beliefs that may interfere with being an effective adult ally

Youth will pick up on a lack of enthusiasm or genuine commitment.

How do we foster youth empowerment? It can be achieved by providing leadership and life skills and opportunities to apply these skills to making a difference with others. Youth need a voice in the issues that matter to them and the decisions that affect them. Youth need meaningful access to positive role models. They need to see viable alternatives for leading a meaningful life, regardless of the challenges they have experienced.

It is important to remember that youthdriven empowerment initiatives does not mean leaving youth to figure things out on their own. Successful youth-driven empowerment initiatives typically have significant adult support.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) has an excellent Violence Prevention Toolkit available online

One of the significant empowerment movements in the past decade has been the healing and wellness movement. This movement has signalled an acknowledgement that many situations of grief have to be dealt with before individuals can find a path to living a more empowered life.

ealing and wellness strategies for Aboriginal people have to also deal with grief that is the result of intangible loss.

Intergenerational trauma is an intangible loss. The British Crown and the Canadian government deliberately and thoughtfully created several extermination and assimilation policies from the late 19 th to the mid-20 th century.

The patterns present in these dysfunctional families have since transcended several generations, and now there are very dysfunctional communities.

such a need to develop innovative processes to circumvent these patterns of dysfunction. The challenge is how to develop the means of sustainable, transformative change.

Grief is such a powerful emotion because it makes us feel so full and so empty at the same time.

This time of great sorrow is described as “having a loss of vision.”

However, for sustainable empowerment, you must go deeper and address how these individuals may endure grief.

if you send an empowered individual back into a self-defeating environment, his empowerment will eventually fade away.

Strategies for these individuals must contain a process by which they can help effect change in their families and communities as well.

Individuals must find a process to maintain their empowerment.

What good is having “vision” and not having any power? To really effect change, to truly empower Aboriginal communities, you must combine “vision” and “voice.”

When examining strategies for the entire community, you have to find a collective voice and vision. This voice is created through collaboration with others. If you create a collective vision and voice, then you will ultimately create a truly transformative change because when you have everyone “buying in,” you will see empowered individuals begin to empower their families, which will in turn empower entire communities.

BCYSTH ABORIGINAL CAPACITY CAFÉ

The two groups then come back together for testimonials, a quick debrief of what happened in each group, and a celebration.

Four generations attend each event: Elders, grandparents, parents, and children.

Includes a celebration consisting of awards, honoraria, recognition, and door prizes to acknowledge the hard work, commitment, and knowledge of everyone who participated.

Provides participating youth with a half-day session to prepare them for their role with the larger group.

Through the power of a positive and healthy relationship, youth being mentored have access to a strong role model, someone with whom they can discuss plans and worries and celebrate successes.

Mentoring is not a unidirectional enterprise; both parties gain valuable experience and skills in the process.

Personal or social mentoring fits well with the values of many Aboriginal cultures in several ways:

Mentoring, by definition, is a more holistic approach than focusing on one area of skill. It is also a means of transferring knowledge from a traditional perspective.

Traditionally, mentoring relationships with specially designated “aunties” and “uncles” were formalized in many Aboriginal cultures.

The type of relationship that emerges as a result of mentoring provides an excellent forum for teaching and strengthening cultural practices.

1. Mentoring should not be seen as a stand-alone, narrowly targeted program, but rather as an activity that is entirely supportive of community values and goals and that is fully integrated with other community education, healing, and capacitybuilding activities.

2. Mentoring should be embedded in existing programs.

3. A community advisory group should be established at the outset of any mentoring program to inform and guide the development, evolution, and maintenance of the program.

Mentoring in groups instead of on an individual basis may be a good fit culturally and can also address the potential difficulty of recruiting enough mentors for one-on-one mentoring.

All mentors, whether adults or other youth, require some training and orientation to the mentoring process.

The extent to which program organizers can look after the logistics (such as meeting time and place, inclusion of meals) will facilitate regular and productive mentoring sessions.

Allowing sufficient time for the recruitment and selection of both mentors and mentees and choosing appropriate candidates will increase the likelihood of the program’s success.

The Aunties and Uncles mentoring program uses adult community mentors. It focuses on children aged 10 and older, with the goal that the Aunties and Uncles (mentors) can secure positive relationships with the participants before they begin the transition to young adulthood.

In many Aboriginal cultures, raising children was the responsibility of the entire community. It was believed that many carried the responsibility of assisting the parents. The extended family as well as any member of the community, if they were older, would be acknowledged as auntie, uncle, or grandparent.

The Uncles and Grandfathers would sit the young man down and describe his future responsibilities as a man, walking with him through the challenging years of adolescence, spending time with the young man and challenging him about his role and responsibilities.

The Aunties and Grandmothers would take on the responsibility of guiding the young woman into womanhood by teaching her about her connection to the natural world and the responsibilities she carries as a woman. The purpose was to ensure that values, traditions, and identity were seen as a source of courage, strength, honour, and pride for the future. In modern society, this rite of passage is very rarely performed.

oung people struggle a great deal with the challenging years of adolescence. Mentoring helps support youth during this time of transition.

SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING BY OLDER PEERS: UNITING OUR NATIONS PEER MENTORING PROGRAM

Although the program began as a paired mentoring strategy, it has evolved to group-based mentoring, which the students seem to enjoy and is a structure that helps minimize the impact of absenteeism.

Mentors receive a full day of training prior to the program starting and a manual to assist them in their role.

A unique aspect of the peer mentoring program is the involvement of an Aboriginal adult mentor from the community who comes into the school several times per semester, typically to facilitate a teaching circle with the mentoring participants.

In 2007, the first issue of SEVEN Magazine was launched as a newsletter,

Recognizing youth in ways that are meaningful to them can make a lasting impact beyond their involvement in a program. Consider ways to recognize youth publicly within their peer group settings or at school and privately by taking the time to get to know them. Recognizing youth for their successes tells them they are important, significant people.

Assembly of First Nations (AFN) - www.afnyouth.ca Métis National Council (MNC) - www.metisnation.ca/youth Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) - www.niyc.ca Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC)– www.nwac-hq.org/en/youthcouncil.html Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) - www.abo-peoples.org/youth.html National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) - www.nafc-aboriginal.com/ayc.htm

Effective partnerships are perhaps the single most determinative factor in providing enhanced services for Aboriginal youth.

It is important to choose partners carefully to ensure that they are respected by their own communities and will be appropriate role models for the youth involved.

Committing to collaborate over a period of time sets the stage for the development of these relationships

Each partner brings different perspectives and mandates to the table, and acknowledging them up front and appreciating these differences will strengthen your partnerships.

Praise, flattery, exaggerated manners, and fine, high-sounding words were no part of Lakota politeness. Excessive manners were put down as insincere, and the constant talker was considered rude and thoughtless. Conversation was never begun at once, or in a hurried manner. No one was quick with a question, no matter how important, and no one was pressed for an answer. A pause giving time for thought was the truly courteous way of beginning and conducting a conversation.”

Community credibility is the single most important characteristic of your community partners

In an effort to seem friendly and interested, it is possible to inadvertently be intrusive in the types of questions you ask.

Your credibility in working with Aboriginal partners will be based on how you conduct yourself at meetings and how your actions match your words. Your formal credentials and job title mean very little compared to your integrity and the extent to which you meet your commitments. There is a historical context to meaningless promises being made by non-Aboriginal individuals (often in the context of extending “help”), and your partners may be understandably wary.

Asking people to serve in an advisory capacity when they do not have a true voice can lead to resentment and relationship difficulties.

Women are key decision makers in many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities. They are role models for youth and need to be given a voice in committees and partnerships.

Community members often enjoy attending an event where youth are honoured.

irst Nations children and youth on reserve have almost no access to the broad range of prevention and quality of life services provided by the voluntary sector. 21

Providing a different type of experience in the school setting can lead to more positive feelings about school in general. School connectedness increases the likelihood that youth will attend regularly and experience success.

Aboriginal children are among the most marginalized children in Canadian society. Despite some advances, by almost any measure of health and well-being, Aboriginal children—First Nations, Inuit and Métis—are at least two or three times worse off than other Canadian children.

The residential school system played a large role in negating the protective factors of culture and community for many youth, resulting in widespread mistrust of the formal education system.

Working with educational partners from the outset, rather than presenting a finished idea to the local board, can increase the likelihood that a program will be adapted and used.

Supporting educators to become more responsive to Aboriginal students requires them to have a greater awareness of shared history and cultural traditions, but at the end of the day, they also require specific, action-oriented strategies.

Designing programs with an understanding of the realities of the school system from the outset will increase the likelihood of the implementation and eventual adoption of a program, rather than trying to make the program fit after it has been developed.

Language and terminology are critical issues and need to reflect the local realities and preferences.

Innovative programming plays a major role in improving outcomes for Aboriginal youth in schools; however, innovations in developing new staff positions are just as important.

For community organizations, large-scale, welldesigned program evaluation studies with control groups are nearly impossible, given their mandates and resources. Satisfaction surveys, exit surveys, and other participant feedback mechanisms serve as useful alternatives.