Indigenous Youth Research Articles

Examining the Mental Health Care Needs and Outcomes of Young People Transitioning from Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) in Australia

Young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OOHC), often called care leavers, are known to experience mental health challenges. This article presents a scoping review of research studies completed on the mental health care needs and outcomes of care leavers in Australia from 2015 to 2021. Incorporating 17 studies consisting of six peer-reviewed papers and 11 grey literature reports, the review identified several common concerns pertaining to high levels of poor mental health and psychosocial complexity. These concerns were attributed to a number of factors including placement instability, inadequate access to specialist mental health support services, and limited workforce skills and training. Some sub-groups of care leavers such as young parents, those leaving residential care, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander care leavers, and an older cohort who had experience of institutional OOHC in earlier decades, were noted to be at particular risk. Nevertheless, some strategies for improving policy and practice were highlighted including more concrete transition planning that established links with support services prior to leaving care, an extension of OOHC till at least 21 years of age, provision of further supports such as trauma-informed approaches targeted towards the specific needs of this vulnerable population and culturally responsive programs for Indigenous youth. A limitation of the review was that most studies included were completed before the introduction of extended OOHC in all Australian jurisdictions, and hence do not reflect the positive influence of extended care on transition pathways including mental health. Future research should specifically examine the impact of extended care models on mental health care needs and outcomes.

A Narrative Review of Mental Health Services for Indigenous Youth in Canada: Intersectionality and Cultural Safety as a Pathway for Change

A Narrative Review of Mental Health Services for Indigenous Youth in Canada: Intersectionality and Cultural Safety as a Pathway for Change

Establishing Core Content for Culturally Grounded Harm Reduction Intervention for Urban Indigenous After-School Youth in the Pacific Northwest

Indigenous adults (18 years or older) including parents, staff, and volunteers of an urban Indigenous youth after-school program participated in individual interviews (n = 10) as part of a community-based participatory research (CBPR) Indigenous harm reduction study to identify alcohol and other drug (AOD) content to include in prevention programming for youth participants. Adult findings were organized using a risk environment framework to identify culturally relevant social, physical, policy, and economic AOD risk factors for youth. We report where adult findings intersect with previously described youth results to establish a list of core content (i.e., culturally relevant AOD prevention activities and discussion topics) to guide program implementation. Core content includes intergenerational Indigenous perspectives (i.e., youth, adult, and elder) to reflect Indigenous cultural lifeways and values of protecting future generations. Findings may be highly relevant to other Indigenous after-school groups or others who wish to develop harm reduction prevention programming for urban Indigenous youth in the Pacific Northwest or beyond.

Exploring the relevance of a psychology-based resilience app (JoyPop™) for Indigenous youth

BackgroundDespite facing challenges to mental wellness from ongoing multifold trauma, Indigenous youth continue to galvanize their resilience. One pathway undertaken is embracing technology. The JoyPop™ youth resilience mobile application (app) was invited by Six Nations of the Grand River (SN) leadership to consider its use with their reserve youth. ObjectiveThis study explored the feasibility of JoyPop™ research from the SN community adult perspective for appropriateness and relevance to SN youth, as a precursor to a user-experience study with community youth. MethodsSemi-structured, online interviews with 19 adult community members (26 % male) about JoyPop™ were conducted with nominated stakeholders from SN. Based on a standard presentation of the app, comments were solicited about app features, design, and relevance to Haudenosaunee culture. Interviews were transcribed, coded in a double-blind fashion, and analyzed for themes. ResultsMost offered positive feedback, with some level of support for each feature of JoyPop™. Themes were identified (Need for Indigenous Design, Incorporation of Indigenous Culture, Appreciation of Ease, Flexibility and Personalization), stemming from comments of appraisal and suggestions for adaptations (e.g., incorporating more cultural elements, localized resources, simplification of app). ConclusionsThe JoyPop™ app was viewed as positive and relevant, based on feedback from adults within SN. Adaptations were identified by adults to better fit SN youth needs, and research with SN youth is pending before implementation of adaptations. Research with other communities is encouraged to expand the reach of technology interventions, to holistically support Indigenous youth mental health in a culturally relevant way.

Resisting Concepts as Starting Points in a High School Leadership Pathway Alongside Indigenous Youth

This writing draws on an ongoing narrative inquiry with 10 Indigenous youth as they negotiated their lives within a high school leadership pathway. Our research demonstrates the need to resist starting in concepts as an intentional shift to being and becoming wakeful to storied lives on and off school landscapes. Three resonant threads are highlighted as we listened across the youths’ lives. These threads are framed as pathways the youth asked us to consider in terms of reimagining schools as places of unfolding kinship, reimagining schools beyond notions of becoming responsible adults, and reimagining in-between spaces as landscapes that matter.

Enabling Indigenous wellbeing in higher education: Indigenous Australian youth-devised strategies and solutions

Indigenous youth comprise over half of the Indigenous Australian population; however, there is a scarcity of research that focuses on improving Indigenous Australians’ wellbeing in higher education. The purpose of this study was to identify Indigenous-devised strategies to support wellbeing of salience to Indigenous Australian higher education students. Using Indigenous methodology, Indigenous youth (N = 7; aged between 18 and 25 years) studying at three higher education institutions in Australia participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis identified strategies and solutions for supporting and enhancing Indigenous youth wellbeing in higher education. Participants suggested that their wellbeing would benefit from increased opportunities for them to gain role models. They also suggested culturally supportive higher education environments were critical and could be achieved by employing more Indigenous academics and Indigenous mentors to implement personalised student support, introducing mandatory cultural competency training for all staff, and employing culturally safe counselling services. Indigenous youth also suggested strategies for enhancing institutional policy such as ensuring Indigenous culture and perspectives were taught across all faculties; developing reconciliation action plans, financial support, and scholarships to require proof of Aboriginality and evidence of hardship; and an institutional wellbeing strategy designed to support Indigenous students’ wellbeing.

Aotearoa New Zealand, the Forcible Transfer of Tamariki and Rangatahi Māori, and the Royal Commission on Abuse in Care

This article investigates to what extent the forcible transfer of tamariki and rangatahi Māori (Indigenous children and youth) in Aotearoa New Zealand can be considered genocide. First, I begin by exploring contemporary genocide theory as it relates to dolus eventualisin settler colonial contexts, before engaging with precedents for recognizing Indigenous genocides established by truth commissions in Canada (2015; 2019) and Australia (1997). I then explore the history around Indigenous child removal in Aotearoa from the onset of colonization to the present day, attentive to ways in which the UN Convention can apply to the forced removal of Māori children. Third, I explore the potential of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care (2018-2023) to engage with the concept of genocide in its deliberations. Between 60 and 80 percent of those taken were Māori, removed from their families, communities, and nations (respectively whānau, hapū, and iwi). I conclude with some reflections as to why the issue of genocide is not widely discussed in Aotearoa, and has not played an important role in the NZ Commission’s work, in contradistinction to commissions in other settler states.

P22-042-23 Evaluating the Impacts of Urban Land-Based Food Education for Indigenous Children and Youth in Southwestern Ontario, Canada: A Community-Based Study Protocol

P22-042-23 Evaluating the Impacts of Urban Land-Based Food Education for Indigenous Children and Youth in Southwestern Ontario, Canada: A Community-Based Study Protocol

Online photovoice to engage indigenous Cook Islands youth in the exploration of social and ecological wellbeing amidst a global disruption

Photovoice is a participatory action research method that aims to include the voices of groups by enabling people to record and reflect on their knowledge of issues they consider important. Drawing from critical pedagogy, feminist theory, and community-based approaches to document research, photovoice involves participants as collaborators by using photographs that participants take themselves. Engaging the participants in conversations regarding their photographs facilitates agency in the research process and provides valuable insights into the views, experiences, and knowledge of participants. Originating in the public sector as a method for assessing health needs, the use of photovoice has since gained popularity as a tool for examining perceptions regarding changes in the social and natural environment, and for exploring human-environment interactions. This paper reviews the use of photovoice as a research method to engage indigenous youth in the small island community of Rarotonga, Cook Islands for the exploration of ecological and social wellbeing during disaster times. Amidst the global disruption ensued by the COVID-19 pandemic, indigenous youth participants explored the responses and adaptations of their community to changes in the social and ecological environment of their island home. Given the associated lockdown measures and travel restrictions, photovoice interviews were conducted via Zoom, an online videoconferencing platform. By integrating the photovoice method with advanced online communication systems, the research team based in Auckland, New Zealand was able to collect data remotely while facilitating meaningful engagement with indigenous youth participants across geographic and cultural borders. The use of online photovoice via Zoom was shown to be an empowering and inclusive method for the engagement of indigenous youth and the promotion of collaborative, cross-cultural research partnerships for the exploration of social and ecological wellbeing during a global disruption.

The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic “Crisis” on Unaccompanied Minors Navigating US Removal Proceedings

Unaccompanied minors are among the most vulnerable undocumented immigrants facing removal proceedings in US immigration court. To avoid being sent back to violence and deprivation in their home countries, unaccompanied minors may apply for asylum or deportation relief for abandoned, abused, or neglected children. The COVID-19 pandemic represented a crisis for American society that also had key impacts on immigrants’ lives and their ability to interact with state systems to apply for legal status and claim rights. This paper asks: (1) How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect unaccompanied minors’ social vulnerabilities in the US?; and (2) How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact the US immigration bureaucracy and the work of nonprofit advocates who broker unaccompanied minors’ interactions with these state systems? Findings show that the pandemic exacerbated unaccompanied minors’ social vulnerabilities, with especially adverse effects on indigenous youths, those in legal limbo, unrepresented youths, and those experiencing job loss. The pandemic also disrupted the US immigration bureaucracy and, consequently, the work of advocates who broker immigrants’ interactions with these systems, making it more difficult to interact with traumatized youths to obtain necessary information for their cases, meet strict deadlines, and identify their needs. This case study provides lessons on how states and civil society strategically manage a “crisis” and discusses the implications for immigrants’ rights and vulnerabilities.

Community‐driven science and science education: Living in and navigating the edges of equity, justice, and science learning

Community‐driven science and science education: Living in and navigating the edges of equity, justice, and science learning

“Then the Nettle People Won’t Be Lonely”: Recognizing the Personhood of Plants in an Indigenous STEAM Summer Program

In this paper, we explore the ways that a STEAM-focused summer program for Indigenous youth supported learning in accordance with Indigenous axiologies (what we value esthetically or morally), ontologies (what we believe to be real and how we enact those beliefs), and epistemologies (what we know and how we know it) or AOE. Part of these AOEs include enacting kin relationships through recognizing the personhood of more-than-human beings. We posit that (1) our socio-cultural, political, and ethical orientations regarding human-nature relations affect our behaviors and that (2) shifting the way we view nature (e.g., recognizing plant personhood) may be a powerful contributor to more equitable climate futures. We present a case study of the relationship between a human child, Talon, and a plant called Stinging Nettle. We specifically move to answer: Did the program design support engagement in the recognition of plant personhood? If so, in what ways? The paper describes six dimensions of recognizing plant personhood. Findings illustrate how the program design resulted in the development of a strong human-plant relationship. We discuss implications for STEM and climate change education in supporting ecologically sustainable living and decision-making.

Indigenous Emancipation: The Fight Against Marginalisation, Criminalisation, and Oppression

This thematic issue addresses the challenges faced by Indigenous peoples in protecting their rights and maintaining their unique cultures and ways of life. Despite residing on all continents and possessing distinct social, cultural, economic, and political characteristics, Indigenous peoples have historically faced oppression and violation of their rights. Measures to protect Indigenous rights are gradually being recognized by the international community, but ongoing issues such as illegal deforestation, mining, and land clearances continue to desecrate sacred sites and oppress Indigenous peoples. Indigenous women and youth are particularly vulnerable, facing higher levels of gender‐based violence and overrepresentation in judicial sentencing statistics. Land rights continue to be threatened by natural resource extraction, infrastructure projects, large‐scale agricultural expansion, and conservation orders. There is also a heightened risk of statelessness for Indigenous peoples whose traditional lands cross national borders, leading to displacement, attacks, killings, and criminalization.

Effectiveness of strategies to reduce risky alcohol consumption among youth living in rural or remote areas: a systematic review.

This review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to reduce risky alcohol consumption among youth living in rural and remote areas. Youth living in rural and remote areas are more likely to drink alcohol and experience alcohol-related harm than youth living in urban locations. This review assessed the effectiveness of strategies to reduce young people's risky alcohol consumption in rural and remote areas. We considered papers that included youth (aged 12 to 24 years; also referred to in this review as young people ) who were identified as living in rural or remote locations. Any intervention or strategy designed to reduce or prevent alcohol consumption among this population was included. The primary outcome was frequency of short-term risky alcohol consumption as measured by self-reported incidents of drinking 5 or more standard drinks in 1 session. We conducted this systematic review in accordance with the JBI methodology for systematic reviews of effectiveness. We searched for published and unpublished English-language studies and gray literature from 1999 to December 2021. Two authors screened titles and abstracts before full-text screening and data extraction. Two authors reviewed the extracted data to identify studies that reported duplicate data (eg, due to progressive publication of longitudinal data sets) and, where multiple studies reported the same data set, the study with the measure most proximal to the primary outcome measure and/or with the longest follow-up was selected. Two authors then critically appraised the studies. There were no interventions that were assessed for impact on the primary outcome in more than 1 study; in turn, the feasibility and utility of statistical pooling and the Summary of Findings were limited. Instead, results and certainty of evidence is provided in narrative format. Twenty-eight articles reporting on 16 studies were included in the review: 10 randomized controlled trials, 4 quasi-experimental studies, and 2 cohort studies. All studies except 1 were conducted in the United States. Only 3 studies measured the primary outcome of short-term risky alcohol consumption and included a comparison group. A meta-analysis of 2 of these studies showed that interventions that included motivational interviewing had a small and non-significant effect on short-term risky alcohol consumption among Indigenous youth in the United States. Meta-analyses of the effect of a variety of interventions on secondary outcomes demonstrated that intervention was not more effective than control for reducing past month drunkenness; however, intervention was more effective for reducing past month alcohol use (odds radio 0.3; 95% CI 0.13 to 0.67; P =0.003). The heterogeneity of effects was evident within these meta-analyses as well as in the studies unable to be meta-analyzed. Based on this review, no interventions can be broadly recommended for reducing short-term risky alcohol consumption among youth in rural and remote areas. Further research to increase the robustness of available evidence in relation to the effectiveness of strategies to reduce short-term risky alcohol consumption among youth in rural and remote areas is urgently required. PROSPERO CRD42020167834.

Religiosity among Indigenous Peoples: A Study of Cordilleran Youth in the Philippines

Religions are a set of beliefs, attitudes, and practices about transcendence. They are formed by complex social and cultural rituals and customs. Given that religion is also vital to the Indigenous Peoples, this study employed the Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS) to measure and understand the nuances of the religiosity of the Indigenous youth of Cordillera, also known as Igorots, in the Philippines. The Cordilleran youth’s religiosity is particularly interesting to the researchers because their autochthonous religion is marked by a cosmology that includes hundreds of deities and elaborate rituals accompanying personal and social events. Data collected from 151 university students showed that Cordilleran youth are highly religious, and those living in rural areas are more religious than the younger participants. The Cordilleran youth strongly prefer private practice and scored high in the ideology dimension of CRS. They tend to devote themselves to transcendence in their personal space through individualized activities and rituals. This study also found that the religiosity of the select Cordilleran youth was ambivalent, defined as the coexistence of different ideas or feelings in the mind or a single context. It shows the inter-religiosity of the Indigenous youth as expressed in the engagement of religious practices. This paper discussed these significant results and explored their implications for the Indigenous Peoples and the Cordilleran youth.

Achieving co-presence when together and apart: Hybrid engagements and multi-modal collaborative research with urban indigenous youth

This article reflects on collaborative research carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic involving indigenous youth co-investigators from different urban settings in Bolivia and a UK- and Bolivia-based research coordination team. Unlike previous studies that highlight the potential of generating a shared co-presence via virtual engagements and digital methods when face-to-face interactions seem less desirable, this article offers a more cautious account. We question the existence of a shared co-presence and, instead, posit co-presence as fragmented and not necessarily mutual, requiring careful engagement with power imbalances, distinct socio-economic and space-time positionings, and diverse priorities around knowledge generation among team members. These considerations led us to iteratively configure a hybrid research approach that combines synchronous and asynchronous virtual and face-to-face interactions with multi-modal methods. We demonstrate how this approach enabled us to generate a sense of co-presence in a context where collaborator access to a shared space-time was limited, differentiated, or displaced.

Negotiating senses of belonging and identity across education spaces

A multitude of educational programs attempt to facilitate young people’s engagement with ideas and practices of active citizenship. For young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or Indigenous people in Australia, such interventions are often subject to complex experiences of senses of belonging and non-belonging. This paper responds to calls from researchers to develop better understandings of young Indigenous people’s own senses and practices of belonging and to better understand the ways in which these perspectives and practices are spatially influenced at the level of local communities, ‘country’ and cultural groupings, and within larger state, national or transnational settings. Their testimonies illustrate the tensions that young Indigenous people must navigate in a settler colony that has never truly recognised Indigenous sovereignty but show that sovereignty remains intact. Focus groups were conducted with 58 young Indigenous people in Melbourne and regional Victoria who were participating in an Indigenous youth leadership program designed to foster formal and informal active citizenship practices, and to nurture a strong, affirming sense of Indigenous identity. The testimonies of these participants provide valuable insights into educational sites as spaces in which young people experience a spectrum of weak to strong senses of belonging. They also provide insights into the possibilities of engaging the challenges faced by many young Indigenous people in educational settings, challenges that include race discordance and exclusion, deficit discourses and gaps and distances in educational practice. They highlight the need to recognise the aspirations of young Indigenous people and the capacities of colonial education systems to meet them, and the imperative to celebrate young Indigenous identities in meaningful, non-tokenistic ways.

Universities, imperialism and the collective work ahead.

Universities, imperialism and the collective work ahead.

Native American youth finding self through digital story telling

AbstractThis holistic single‐case study aimed to understand the impact of digital story telling (DST) on the identity expressions of Native American youth. The question that guided the study asks, ‘How do Native American adolescents in a rural, tribal‐run after‐school programme for Indigenous youth explore and express who they are through digital story telling?’ Five Indigenous youth enrolled in a tribal‐run after‐school programme participated in the study and completed a digital story telling project that contained multiple components and interviews. Data sources included funds of knowledge maps, shields, story scripts, storyboards, interview transcripts, and digital videos. Thematic analysis was the overarching method used to identify themes. The researchers also conducted constant comparison, content analysis, and/or intertextual transcription to analyse specific data types. Findings indicate the youth enjoyed the DST process, explored and solidified their personal identities, and discovered personal strength. The findings also suggest that DST enabled the youth to draw upon cultural knowledges, literacies, and personal experiences to establish their identities and make sense of the world around them. Furthermore, findings reveal the continued presence of racism in society and schools and the need to transform schools into sites that embrace and support Indigenous knowledges, languages, literacies, and identity development of Indigenous students.

Doing Archaeology without Strings

AbstractIn the province of Ontario, Canada, it is estimated that 80% of archaeological sites are Indigenous, yet there are very few Indigenous archaeologists involved in management and decision-making about Indigenous heritage. Systemic barriers, particularly around licensing and regulations for curatorial facilities, continue to prevent Indigenous people from directly managing and protecting their own cultural heritage. Recognizing that Indigenous communities in northeastern Ontario have had little exposure or opportunity to learn about archaeology, for several years we have been involved in educational programs to train Indigenous youth, staff in First Nations government offices, and others. We illustrate with two examples: the monitor training program undertaken in northeastern Ontario and a project to catalog artifacts from the legacy collection from the La Cloche site.