Indigenous Men Research Articles

The physical well-being of Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest: Anthropometric evidence from British Columbia’s jails, 1864–1913

This paper documents the height of Indigenous men from the Pacific Northwest who were incarcerated in British Columbia’s jails during a period of colonization and increasing market access. The average height of adults from a given community reflects the standard of living in that community at the time the adults were growing to maturity. After correcting for the impact of sample selection arising from prisoners’ personal attributes, their home communities’ access to market opportunities, and unobserved height determinants associated with exposure to the colonial criminal justice system, we find that Indigenous men were positively selected into incarceration based on their height. Moreover, the tendency for the tallest men to be incarcerated became stronger over our period of study. Our results suggest that Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest were at a severe bioeconomic disadvantage during the nineteenth century, and their well-being did not improve as market access and colonial institutions spread through the region.

Indigenous knowledge and sugar sweetened beverages: Qualitative adaptations towards chronic disease prevention and intervention

Sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) are a concern for Indigenous populations and are associated with multiple chronic diseases. To address this concern, we culturally tailored and tested the feasibility of an evidence-based SSB-reducing curriculum. The modified curriculum was designed for Indigenous men and is thematically based on traditional values, ancestral teachings, and community strengths while promoting healthy lifestyles. A community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach was used to develop an interview guide using an Indigenous-centered theoretical framework. Two Indigenous content experts conducted both individual and focus group interviews (n = 14) with urban community leaders and athletes. Two Indigenous qualitative scientists analyzed the data with the support of an inter-tribal community advisory board. Results included imagery utilization, the importance of water, marketing, taste, and building routine. These findings guided the development of 6-month Indigenous focused SSB intervention consisting of 12 in-person intervention sessions and 27 short messaging service (SMS) messages.

Recognising a kaleidoscopic archive: working with London Missionary Society records in the geekosphere’

This article is an ultra-reflective account of an encounter with London Missionary Society (LMS) records through the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) collections at the State Library of Victoria (SLV) and the home office as socially and materially informed research spaces. The genealogies of surrogate archives are little analysed, yet they have complex pasts worth investigating. As Jasmine Burns (JALSNA 33: 150–167, 2024), the librarian and metadata specialist explained, information about an archive’s ancestry is valuable as it illuminates the history and a pattern of use beyond the original author’s intent. The subsequent discussion shows how I inspect descriptive categories associated with the AJCP LMS microfilmed and digitised records in the custody of SLV, the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and the National Library of Australia, (NLA) showing how meaning was layered onto these records. Extending on the social historian Arlette Farge’s analogy of the archive as a kaleidoscope, I demonstrate the introductory process by which a historian determines absences and presences in the archive and to what extent the initial imperial categories used by archivists and librarians informed my research practices. By analysing the history of the LMS AJCP collection, I demonstrate how these Australian-Pacific artefacts contain layers of knowledge about historical cultures and relationships. The different agendas and experiences of librarians, archivists, and historians—all curators of historical records –have revealed or obscured encounter narratives concerning European and indigenous men and women.

Evidence of Indirect Discrimination Against Black and Indigenous Men in a Simulated Hiring Scenario

Evidence of Indirect Discrimination Against Black and Indigenous Men in a Simulated Hiring Scenario

A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Traditional Marriage Terms in Awgbu-Igbo

This research is a sociolinguistic analysis of traditional marriage terms in Awgbu, an Igbo-speaking community in Anambra State, Nigeria. The study, which adopts a qualitative research design, aims to gain insights into the social, cultural and linguistic changes in Awgbu-Igbo regarding traditional marriage terms. For data collection, indigenous Awgbu older men and women from the five villages in Awgbu who are knowledgeable in traditional marriage practices of Awgbu were interviewed using traditional marriage list of Awgbu. Traditional marriage terms, consisting of 40 terms, were collected from their responses. The theoretical framework for data analysis is J.R. Firth’s (1957) and Fillmore (1984) Lexical Semantics Theory. The findings from this research show that traditional marriage terms have socio-cultural significance in Awgbu. These terms have also changed due to globalisation, modernisation, and Christianity. Such changes involve the eradication of the ị́gbāḿmị́ị́ ceremony and ínēnē ụ́nọ̀ rites due to globalisation. Also, the use of òbènè (calabash), ìtóòtù (ceramic pot) and ìkóḿmị́ị̄/ḿmānyá (traditional cups) are now replaced with gallons, plastic and breakable cups. Likewise, the practice of égwúìtìrìm̀mọ́nwụ́ which involves dance and music performance is no longer feasible, signaling the loss of an exciting Awgbu culture.

“Men who lived like women” in 18th century Alta California:<i> Coyas</i> / <i>Joyas</i>, <i>Cuút </i>or <i>Uluqi</i>, sodomites, hermaphrodites or amaricados?

Objective/context: This article analyzes testimonies of religious and military men, produced between 1770 and 1812, which give an account of Chumash, Juaneño and Yuma indigenous men of Alta California who were in the habit of dressing as women and joining them in the tasks corresponding to the feminine roles in these societies. The documents analyzed include two military diaries on the exploration expeditions and three chronicles of Franciscans who, starting in 1769, were in charge of founding missions in this area. Methodology: Through a gender perspective analysis, we examine the terms and categories used in the sources to describe and give meaning to the sexual roles and practices of the Coyas/Joyas, Cuút or Uluqi. Originality: The few works dedicated to the analysis of California Indians “in the habit of women” have focused on the missionary discourse or on the denunciation of the supposed “extermination” of dissident sexual practices. This paper argues that while the testimonies unanimously condemned these practices, they differed in the categories used to name and classify them and, thus, in the meaning attributed to them, which resulted in different legal and theological implications. Conclusions: The existence of men who dressed as women persisted, according to the sources analyzed, until the beginning of the 19th century in the region from the Gila and Colorado rivers to the Santa Barbara canal in northwestern New Spain. The categories of sodomy, amaricados or hermaphrodites, and male-female were understood under the single-sex model. And, although by the end of the eighteenth century, the principles of modern legal medicine were beginning to change, the meaning given to the Coyas/Joyas was linked to the justification of the advances or difficulties of colonization rather than to the scientific debates of the time.

Death at Butterabby: the case of Belo and Mumbleby and Aboriginal women’s place in the nineteenth-century criminal justice system

The Butterabbey gravesite is significant for its evidence of Aboriginal peoples’ resistance to colonial pastoral expansion and the dispossession of land and water sources in Western Australia. It is also significant to the case of R v Mumbleby and Belo (1865) which exemplifies the experiences of Aboriginal women defendants in nineteenth-century Western Australia whose experiences in the criminal justice system were different to both non-Indigenous women and Indigenous men. This paper analyses the case of R v Mumbleby and Belo within its historical context of frontier violence to reveal the treatment of Aboriginal women accused of homicide, and determine the power struggles at play.

A romance in (and with) the Amazon: constructing nature and Indigenous masculinities in Napo, Ecuador

ABSTRACT The Ecuadorian Amazon attracts thousands of Western tourists yearly with promises of access to pristine rainforests and traditional Indigenous cultures. Visiting the Amazon is also billed as an opportunity to achieve spiritual transcendence by shedding the burdens of modern life and (re)connecting with a timeless essence that Westerners are presumed to have lost. In contrast, this essence and the Edenic landscapes connected to it are often imagined as integral to Indigenous cultures. While scholars have convincingly argued that these ecoprimitivist ideas reflect Western anxieties regarding the alienating forces of modernity, insufficient attention has been paid to the diverse ways in which Western visitors convert these ideas into embodied practice. Specifically, I analyze how ecoprimitivist ideas about Amazonia shaped the experiences of Western women who established intimate relationships with Indigenous Kichwa men in Napo, Ecuador.

“All great warriors have long hair”: Tourism and shifting Indigenous masculinities in Napo, Ecuador

As young Indigenous Kichwa men begin working as local tour guides in the small city of Tena in the Ecuadorian Amazon, they go through complex processes of transition and adjustment navigating entanglements of tourists’ expectations, familial obligations, and desires for socioeconomic mobility. For many, there is the additional challenge of emphasizing their Indigenous identities, given the pervasive anti-Indigenous racism to which they are subjected within Ecuadorian society. I argue that work in tourism has provided young Kichwa men with opportunities for self-transformation, at once attractive and fraught with contradictions. On one hand, they have come to perceive their Indigeneity as an asset rather than a liability and are increasingly able to contest long-standing racism at the local level. On the other hand, their urban lifestyles, pursuit of intimate relationships with foreign tourists and sometimes dismissive attitudes towards rural Kichwa people have distanced them socially from the broader Kichwa population. By exploring these complex affective processes, their impacts on local dynamics, and the multiple and often conflicting understandings of Indigeneity that are constantly being produced and negotiated in these spaces, I seek to broaden the scope of scholarly debates on the impact of cultural tourism in Indigenous communities. I also engage with recent scholarship on Indigenous masculinities to discuss the possibilities and limitations of masculinity as a tool of decolonization for Indigenous peoples.

Indigenous bodies, gender, and sexuality in the Jesuit Missions of South America (17th–18th centuries)

Many studies tend to apply categories of gender and sexuality to indigenous peoples in the same way as they are used in the West. This ignores the fact that indigenous peoples have their own notions of people, which are often at odds with Western binary standards. The issue at stake in this article is the inclusion of the analytical categories of gender and sexuality in South American communities, starting with the Jesuit Missions that spread across present-day Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay during the 17th and 18th centuries. To this end, it uses as historical sources a set of 1212 Jesuit writings, including manuscripts and books, as well as architectural, sculptural, and pictorial remains. Using techniques specific to paleography to read manuscripts, the project’s methodology makes use of ethnohistory guided by Content Analysis, thus producing a reading that starts from contemporary indigenous problems in order to build an Indigenous History. The study’s discussion considers that indigenous bodies, once produced by village collectives made up of extended families, were forged in the Jesuit missions according to the parameters of the colonial project. The article therefore demonstrates the genealogy of the bodies of indigenous men, indigenous women, and abject indigenous people, concluding that the current scenario of gender and sexual violence in South America has its origins in the colonial process, and not in indigenous cultures.

Messy queer rhetorics: homonationalism and gay Asian American triad in Fire Island

ABSTRACT Fire Island (2022) represents how three gay Asian American men (Noah, Howie, and Will) navigate tensions of whiteness, homonationalism, classism, and gay sexual desirability while on vacation with their friends. What begins as a narrative of gay Asian American men’s queer friendships becomes an intraracial romance of sticky rice – an Asian man dating another Asian man. Through use of a queer, Asian American rhetorical methodology informed by a queer of color critique, which challenges reliance upon citizenship, we analyze the messiness inherent in Fire Island. Our queer rhetorical analysis locates two themes present in Fire Island. First, Fire Island portrays an Asian American triad (or a narrative centering on three Asian American men) which ultimately succumbs to whiteness. Not without its shortcomings, homonationalism impacts both Fire Island and the film’s namesake. Second, the representation of three gay Asian American leading men comes with a cost, as an invisibility of romantic relations between Black, Indigenous, Latine, and Asian American men, that reify the white-Asian binary. Simultaneously influenced by and disrupting homonationalism, Fire Island demonstrates the queer (im)possibilities of optimism, pessimism, and failure.

Historical child sexual abuse cases reported to the police by Indigenous adults in a northern Canadian territory: an exploration of factors affecting the likelihood of charges and convictions

ABSTRACT The current research examined historical child sexual abuse files from a northern Canadian police force, looking at factors pertaining to the offence, the complainant and the suspect, in an area with a large Indigenous population. The dataset analysed represented all reported cases (N = 229) of historical child sexual abuse by Indigenous complainants in the database of the participating force from 2005 to 2019. Analysis of all cases showed charges were more likely in cases with multiple complainants, female complainants and complainants 11–14 years old at the time of the abuse. For cases where charges were laid (n = 135), convictions were slightly more likely in cases with less serious offences. For trial cases (n = 75), multiple complainants, the relationship of suspect to complainant, age of suspect and age difference between complainant and suspect were significantly associated with trial outcome. Ethnicity of suspects showed no relationship to charges or convictions. PRACTICE IMPACT STATEMENT This research demonstrates the importance of support for all victims of historical child sexual abuse when navigating the difficult process of disclosing abuse and engaging the criminal justice process. In particular, Indigenous men may need increased access to victim services, given the finding that they are less likely to see charges and convictions at trial for their cases. Continued public education encouraging reporting of child sexual abuse, even for victims of historical crimes, is needed as cases with long delays between offence and report are just as likely to result in charges and convictions as cases with less delay.

The next seven generations: at the heart of care alongside Mi’kmaw women

The strawberry is connected to heart teachings for many Indigenous people. The strawberry plant produces beautiful things. However, when exploring the topic of Indigenous women and heart health, the focus of the conversation is most often around deficits. Indigenous women have diseases related to the heart at a higher proportion than both non-Indigenous women and Indigenous men. There is a lack of understanding specific nations’ relationships to heart, and there is little to no research available specific to Mi’kmaw (adjective for a Mi’kmaq (First Nations people, Atlantic provinces, Canada, who call themselves L’nu) person) women and heart health. The focus of this Mi’kmaq research, which aligned with community-based participatory research, was to explore and gain a better understanding of what heart means to Mi’kmaw women on the west coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Four Mi’kmaw women joined the research and shared their experiences to co-create knowledge about heart health. This knowledge in turn shaped my understanding of nursing practice.

Reasons for disengagement from antiretroviral care in the era of "Treat All" in low- or middle-income countries: a systematic review.

Disengagement from antiretroviral therapy (ART) care is an important reason why people living with HIV do not achieve viral load suppression become unwell. We searched two databases and conference abstracts from January 2015 to December 2022 for studies which reported reasons for disengagement from ART care. We included quantitative (mainly surveys) and qualitative (in-depth interviews or focus groups) studies conducted after "treat all" or "Option B+" policy adoption. We used an inductive approach to categorize reasons: we report how often reasons were reported in studies and developed a conceptual framework for reasons. We identified 21 studies which reported reasons for disengaging from ART care in the "Treat All" era, mostly in African countries: six studies in the general population of persons living with HIV, nine in pregnant or postpartum women and six in selected populations (one each in people who use drugs, isolated indigenous communities, men, women, adolescents and men who have sex with men). Reasons reported were: side effects or other antiretroviral tablet issues (15 studies); lack of perceived benefit of ART (13 studies); psychological, mental health or drug use (13 studies); concerns about stigma or confidentiality (14 studies); lack of social or family support (12 studies); socio-economic reasons (16 studies); health facility-related reasons (11 studies); and acute proximal events such as unexpected mobility (12 studies). The most common reasons for disengagement were unexpected events, socio-economic reasons, ART side effects or lack of perceived benefit of ART. Conceptually, studies described underlying vulnerability factors (individual, interpersonal, structural and healthcare) but that often unexpected proximal events (e.g. unanticipated mobility) acted as the trigger for disengagement to occur. People disengage from ART care for individual, interpersonal, structural and healthcare reasons, and these reasons overlap and interact with each other. While HIV programmes cannot predict and address all events that may lead to disengagement, an approach that recognizes that such shocks will happen could help. Health services should focus on ways to encourage clients to engage with care by making ART services welcoming, person-centred and more flexible alongside offering adherence interventions, such as counselling and peer support.

Strategies to enhance indigenous men's support for utilisation of long-acting reversible contraceptives among women in Kiboga and Rubanda rural districts in Uganda.

Unintended pregnancies, a global public health concern with an annual incidence of about 74 million, significantly impact Africa, representing 25% of cases. These pregnancies, linked to health risks and mortalities, underscore the critical need for effective family planning especially the Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs). Long-acting reversible contraceptives offer a significant solution, yet their uptake in Uganda faces challenges due to insufficient male support. This qualitative study in Rubanda and Kiboga revealed negative perceptions and belief systems among rural Indigenous Ugandan men regarding the use of LARCs by their wives, which acted as barriers to utilization. Recommendations include enhancing Social and Behavioural Change Communication (SBCC) and improving LARCs service delivery to counter limited knowledge and service concerns, aiming to foster better understanding and correcting the negative perceptions, belief sytems and acceptance of these contraceptive methods for improved maternal and child health outcomes.

Parkinson's Disease Inequities in Daily Cognitive Activities: An Intersectional Approach.

Intersectionality approaches to examining differences in Parkinson's disease (PD) based on racialized group, gender identity, and socioeconomic status (SES) are not well covered in the literature. Additionally, the differences in daily cognitive activities for persons diagnosed with PD by racialized group, gender, and SES are undetermined. This study was conducted to explore the differences in PD daily cognitive activities for diverse racialized groups by gender and SES. This study was a secondary analysis of the Michael J. Fox Foundation's Fox Insight online clinical dataset. Persons with PD were partitioned into 16 racialized by gender groups (Black women, Indigenous men, Latina/x women, Asian men, etc.) that were used in within-group comparisons of low-, middle-, and high-SES-a new variable comprising education and income. Intersectional analyses revealed most items differed between low-SES and high-SES except for items associated with Black and Indigenous men, for whom significant differential item functioning was found between mid-SES and high-SES. These findings revealed that within-group differences exist and may be missed in research in which social factors are adjusted for instead of included in the model.

Supports desired by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males in fatherhood: Focussing on the social and cultural determinates of health and well‐being

AbstractIn Australia, there is insufficient exploration and understanding of how we can strengthen the critical role played by Indigenous fathers. This paper argues that for Indigenous fathers to feel supported in childrearing, greater attention must be given to their social and cultural determinants of health and well‐being. To gain insights into the challenges experienced by Indigenous fathers and the support they require in fatherhood, we primarily apply thematic analysis to data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC). The findings reveal that most fathers identify a social or cultural health and well‐being determinant challenging their fatherhood journey. We examine these results and suggest why and how appropriately focussing on the social and cultural determinants of health and well‐being will enhance and support Indigenous men in fatherhood.

Clinical variants of the metabolic syndrome in young people living in the Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous region – Yugra

Currently the “rejuvenation” and an increase in the number of components of the metabolic syndrome (MS) determine its clinical significance in the earlier development of diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and related complications. Aim of the study was to investigate the features of the MS clinic picture in a population of young men and womenliving in the Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous region – Yugra.Material and methods. The study included 863 young people between 18 and 44 years of age, including 344 men and women with MS and 519 people in the comparison group. Studied subgroups are represented by non-indigenous men and women living in urban and rural areas, and indigenous rural residents. The analysis of MS clinical and laboratory parameters was carried out and its clinical variants in ethnic groups were identified.Results and its discussion. According to the results of the survey of young people with metabolic syndrome, it was revealed that the combination of abdominal obesity and two components of MS were most common in young people with MS (in 50.0 % men and in 55.5 % women). The study defined regression models for each MS group and threshold values for waist circumference were set, which changes in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism were predicted.Conclusions. In groups with MS, hypertriglyceridemia was determined as its most common component. The study identified the most frequent association of abdominal obesity with hyper-LDL cholesterol and hypertriglyceridemia in patients with metabolic syndrome, in ethnic groups, this combination is more common in indigenous rural men (53.3 %) and in non-indigenous urban women (54.3 %).

Association of <i>CSK, MTHFR, ACE, ADRA2B, TCF7L2</i> gene polymorphisms with dyslipidemia among indigenous and non-indigenous people of Khanty-Mansy Autonomous Okrug – Yugra

The increase in cardiovascular diseases and their complications, diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome determines the relevance of early diagnosis and prevention of lipid metabolism disorders by identifying and studying genetic markers of predisposition to dyslipidemia in various populations depending on gender, age and ethnicity.Aim of the study was to investigate the associations of candidate genes CSK, MTHFR, ACE, ADRA2B and TCF7L2 with dyslipidemia in the young indigenous and non-indigenous population living in the Khanty-Mansy autonomous Okrug – Ugra.Material and methods. 863 young people aged 18–44 years were examined, clinical population included nonindigenous and indigenous men and women with metabolic syndrome (n = 344), the comparison group included non-indigenous and indigenous men and women without metabolic syndrome (n = 519). A study of the lipid profile and molecular genetic study was carried out using the polymerase chain reaction method for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): rs1378942 of the gene CSK, rs1801133 (C677T) of the gene MTHFR, gene ADRA2B, rs7903146 of the gene TCF7L2, rs1799752 of the gene ACE.Results. A high frequency of hypercholesterolemia (79.0 %) and hypertriglyceridemia (65.8 %) was found in the examined men and women. Statistically significant differences were established in the frequency of dyslipidemia in patients with metabolic syndrome by ethnicity and gender (p < 0.001). In the general cohort of men with metabolic syndrome hypercholesterolemia is associated with the TT genotype of SNP rs1801133 (C677T) of the gene MTHFR (p = 0.039), in the women – with the DD genotype of the gene ADRA2B (p = 0.010). In indigenous men of the clinical group an association of hypercholesterolemia with the minor T allele of the gene MTHFR (p = 0.005), of hypertriglyceridemia – with the minor T allele of the gene MTHFR (p = 0.031) and the T allele of the gene TCF7L2 (p = 0.031) was revealed. Among indigenous women of the clinical group hypercholesterolemia is associated with carriage of the minor T allele of the gene CSK (p < 0.001) and hypertriglyceridemia – with the D allele of the gene ADRA2B (p = 0.046).Conclusions. Carriage of minor alleles T of the MTHFR gene and D of the ADRA2B gene is associated with hypercholesterolemia among the examined young people and is statistically significantly higher in the group of patients with metabolic syndrome, as well as among indigenous residents of the KhantyMansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra.

Belle Park Pluriverses

Belle Park was established in 1973 in Kingston, Ontario, on a former landfill built on a wetland. Over the past three years, the SSHRC-funded Belle Park Project has been employing Research-Creation and community and interdisciplinary collaboration to engage with this small but highly complex space, whose most prominent feature is a totem pole carved by incarcerated Indigenous men in a local prison. The land is contaminated, but despite this the park is a rich natural habitat, and it is also the location of an encampment of unhoused people. Many existing models of harm and resistance do not capture the frictions and possibilities we experience in this site. “Belle Park Pluriverses” offers poetry and found poetry, along with photographs, to reveal and trouble binaries such as wild v. domestic, dry v. wet, beautiful v. ugly, care v. neglect, garbage v. means of life. Photos by Dorit Naaman and Laura J. Murray.