First Nation and Métis Youth Perspectives of Health

Abstract

This article describes an Indigenous and qualitative research project with 13 First Nation (FN) and Métis youth attending an Aboriginal youth health and wellness program located in the Canadian prairies. Our goal was to collaborate with the youth to co-create knowledge concerning their definitions of health using a convergence of Indigenous and qualitative methodologies. Independent but interconnected themes that emerged are discussed as related to neurodecolonization and the recovery of traditional practices and their contribution to youth resilience. The resilience of youth was reflected in these themes as well as their definitions of health. Our findings point to the importance of acknowledging and validating the role that neurodecolonization practices contribute to healing, both at individual and collective levels. Furthermore, we suggest recognizing resilience as well as viewing health holistically to more adequately understand and address the healthrelated concerns of FNs, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) youth.

Land and nature as sources of health and resilience among Indigenous youth in an urban Canadian context: a photovoice exploration

“…Indeed, notions of resilience here illustrate a strong link with culture and community and are largely based on processes of resistance to a history of oppressive colonial systems, discrimination, and loss. For example, in First Nations communities, resilience has been approached as a process or an ability of an individual to navigate toward resources that facilitate wellness and facilitate positive adaptation despite adversity [22,36,[49][50][51]. For Indigenous youth within Canadian contexts, therefore, resilience is not just an individual's capacity to cope with adversity, change or misfortune, but a community's capacity to extend resources to sustain well-being and provide these resources in culturally relevant ways [33,[49][50][51].…”

“…For example, in First Nations communities, resilience has been approached as a process or an ability of an individual to navigate toward resources that facilitate wellness and facilitate positive adaptation despite adversity [22,36,[49][50][51]. For Indigenous youth within Canadian contexts, therefore, resilience is not just an individual's capacity to cope with adversity, change or misfortune, but a community's capacity to extend resources to sustain well-being and provide these resources in culturally relevant ways [33,[49][50][51]. In this way, young peoples' views of resilience are often reflective of local culture and context in a holistic way, and "consist of a balance between the ability to cope with stress and adversity and the availability of community support" ( [52], p. 5).…”

Supporting Indigenous youth activity programmes: a community-based participatory research approach

“…Indigenous youth have commonly described their activity experiences as being fun and making them happy, exemplifying the emotional benefits from these experiences (e.g., Halas, McRae and Petherick 2012). There is also evidence of the important role of cultural activities in this context, such as powwow (Kerpan and Humbert 2015), praying, and teachings from Elders (Sasakamoose, Scerbe, Wenaus and Scandrett 2016), which youth have perceived as spiritual health benefits. Lastly, youth have shared their perceived physical benefits from activity, such as a reduced likelihood for diabetes (Tang, Community Wellness Programmes and Jardine 2016), and the importance of making good health choices to perform an activity well (Petrucka, Bickford, Bassendowski, Goodwill, Wajunta and Yuzicappi et al 2016).…”

Miýo-pimātisiwin Developing Indigenous Cultural Responsiveness Theory (ICRT): Improving Indigenous Health and Well-Being

“…The loss of cultural and healing practices caused Indigenous Peoples to experience a variety of social and health challenges. Current issues in the Canadian context include a high rate of disengagement from education (Crooks et al, 2015), ongoing health challenges, high suicide rates, physical inactivity, obesity, substance abuse (Sasakamoose, Scerbe, Wenaus, & Scandrett, 2016), and overrepresentation in corrections facilities and poverty (Brokenleg, 2012). First Nations' experiences of many historical and current events have exerted a lasting effect on the health of Indigenous Peoples.…”

“…Because Indigenous methodologies are relatively new to academia, it is useful to illustrate the ways in which Indigenous theory and worldview influenced aspects of the research design (Kovach, Carriere, Montgomery, Barrett, & Giles, 2015). The FSIN conducted in-depth Indigenous qualitative consultations (Kovach, 2012;Sasakamoose et al, 2016). Community participants included men, women, and youth from a broad array of First Nations communities.…”