pdf download - First Nations Health Council

• Workers become paralyzed with fear/burnout
and feeling helpless
• Don’t know their own skills to fix issues
• We discuss problems and never get to solution
Participant discussion highlighted that:
“This workshop really opened my eyes to the
frustrations that our workers go through every
day. I never really understood this before. This
workshop opened my eyes. What you are doing
here today is just great.”
YOUTH ENGAGEMENT
“Community needs to take ownership and stop
depending on government for everything.”
“Are we enabling this attitude or behaviour?
What do workers need to do to elevate the
community members?”
“Somehow First Nations young people are
supposed to grow up and solve all these problems
in the community as though we are supposed to
be saviours of the community.”
• Health workers care; see community assets and
want to work from within
• Not enough emphasis on self-responsibility and
responsibility of families
• Dependency on funding and services vs.
recognizing our own skills and abilities
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CULTURAL INVOLVEMENT
“Culture is the defining character of Aboriginal
people rather than race.”
“All Aboriginal Youth must be bicultural at
present, in the future all of us must be multicultural…”
Dr. Martin Brokenleg presented during
which he explored the definition of what culture
is (“a pattern of group behavior), how it works
unconsciously such that when you are following
the rules of your culture you think your acting
normal. He stressed that there is a difference of
ethnic cultural and youth culture and subcultures,
and he provided examples of how this is expressed
in the health of Aboriginal people. He also talked
about the ten most common findings in the
published research and noted that culture is
expressed in four areas:
• Artifacts, technology, architecture, clothing,
tools, food, clothing;
• Actions – ceremony, specific ceremonies,
daily ceremonies; Kinetics (internal rhythms of
patterned group behavior)
• Speech – what language is spoken, reality exists
in language (you only will see what you have
words for…)
• Thought – attitudes (words), values (feelings),
ethics, religion, metaphysics
Special recognition is given to the actors: Evan
Adams, Simon Baker, Delana Bowen, Dustin Rivers,
Renae morriseau and Dakota Prince. Particular
admiration is extended to those participants who
provided solutions and special acknowledgement
is given to britannia High School teacher matt
Chenoweth, and the students of the Outreach
Program, who made it possible for student
Dakota Prince to receive course credit for her
participation.
Renae morriseau facilitated Youth Engagement
by using Forum Theatre as a tool to engage
participants in an interactive conversation of
youth issues. Forum Theatre, also described as
‘theatre of the oppressed,’ political theatre, and
guerilla theatre involves the presentation of a
skit that highlights a number of youth issues and
problems encountered by youth, family members,
and community workers. Participants are then
engaged, either by acting out, or discussing
possible solutions and alternative approaches.
In this workshop the skit focused on how youth,
health workers, parents in the community and
Health Canada officials deal with a tragic drinking
and driving death of a young gay community
member.
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SECONd ANNUAl FORUm