Outreach to Prospective and New Indigenous Young Fathers using Comic Book Print Media Presented by Denise Hodgins

Why focus on supporting young Indigenous fathers?

Multiple challenges and barriers facing Indigenous men in Canada –Unemployment; poverty; incarceration –Disrupted transmission of fathering –Negative social stigma perpetuated by media images focused on struggle and problems

Why focus on supporting young Indigenous fathers? A growing and youthful population –In 2001, 51% of the Indigenous population in Canada was under the age of 25 (Steffler, 2008) –The fertility rate of First Nations teenage girls is seven times higher than that of other Canadian teenagers, and for those under 15 years of age the rate is estimated to be as much as 18 times higher (Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, 2003 as cited by Guimond & Robitaille, 2008, p.49)

Why focus on supporting young Indigenous fathers? A large number of Indigenous children are currently growing up with limited or no contact with their fathers. –More than half of Indigenous children growing up off-reserve and 35 percent on-reserve live in single parent households (Ball, 2008b), the vast majority (87%) of which are currently headed by women (Steffler, 2008).

Why focus on supporting young Indigenous fathers? Stories from many of the fathers in Ball’s (2008b) research “suggest there is the potential for a new generation of positively involved Aboriginal fathers that urgently needs to be recognized” (p. 52).

Why focus on supporting young Indigenous fathers? Fathers here are more involved at an earlier age and in a lot of families, the fathers are slowly getting around to the fact that we can have more responsibility and input into how are children are raised, or learning, or whatever. I think it’s the best job in the world. Indigenous father quoted by Ball, in press, p. 19

Outreach Looking for an innovative way to reach young Indigenous men who are new fathers and/or are anticipating fatherhood –Raise the profile of young Indigenous fathering experiences Challenges and supports that are needed Successes and joys that come with parenting –Share with others a holistic, generative and Indigenous father story

Comic Book Print Media The Healthy Aboriginal Network Non-profit promotion of health, literacy & wellness –Based in Vancouver –Sean Muir, Executive Director –

Comic Book Print Media Darkness Calls Steve Sanderson, Writer and Artist Released June 2006 Focus: suicide prevention

Comic Book Print Media Level Up Focus: staying in school On the Turn Focus: gambling prevention An Invited Threat Steve Sanderson, Writer and Artist Diabetes prevention FASD (in development)

Youth Comic Book Production Darkness Calls short film Translated the comic book into an 18 minute animated short film in Gitxsan (from the Hazelton, BC area) Focus: language retention and suicide prevention

Approach used by HAN Engaging youth in the process: “conception, writing, illustration and review for authenticity” (Dolha, 2005) Focus group feedback during development from youth, Elders, and community service providers Strengths-based and positive message Healing as a central part of that message Develop a resource that starts a conversation

Effectiveness of this approach Youth engagement –View youth as competent community builders and resources, rather than problems, victims or youth-at-risk needing intervention in order to be saved (Finn and Checkoway, 1998)

Effectiveness of this approach Indigenous voice, ways of knowing –Recognizing cultural practices and models (McShane & Hastings, 2004) –Indigenous conceptualization of family (Castellano, 2002)

Effectiveness of this approach Community participation –As Brandt (2008) explains, participants engaging in community arts bring their bodies, minds, and spirits into a process of communicating and sharing their experiences; they affirm their lives as sources of knowledge, and they stimulate each other in a synergistic process of collective knowledge production. (p. 354)

Project Intention The development of two resources to be used for education and advocacy –a comic book –a resource guide to support the use of the new comic book with community workers within health and the human services, caregivers, and teachers A process and outcomes evaluation

Potential impact Engaging young Indigenous fathers in the production of a comic book focused on fatherhood could provide an opportunity for participants: to voice and own their personal knowledge (Dullea, 2008) about fathering; to challenge negative stereotypes about young Indigenous fathers; to situate their personal knowledge within a historical context and a collective experience; and to share this collective knowledge with others.

Potential impact Bring young Indigenous fathers’ knowledge in to the discourse on father involvement Provide an alternative to negative media images of Indigenous fathers Increase support for policies and programs to include Indigenous fathers’ perspectives and needs Support healthy lifestyles and healing in Indigenous communities Support sustaining positive connections between young Indigenous fathers and their children as life circumstances change (Ball, 2008b).