'My You're a Great Man': A Wâkôhtowin Exploration of the Changing Indigenous Masculinity

When it comes to examining Indigenous boys, men, and masculinities, much of the research remains theoretical in nature, with few scholarly explorations of how diverse, place-specific Indigenous nations engage in processes of recuperating and sustaining the Indigenous values, roles, and responsibilities of boys and men. In this paper, we present research emerging from a five-year “community-first Land centred” project with Ochêkwi-Sîpî (Fisher River Cree Nation), which is located in the territory today known as ‘Canada’. The findings in this paper foreground the stories of eighteen Elders that were gathered through sharing circles and intergenerational interviews. The findings are analyzed using a relational ontology, and more specifically the Cree concept of wâkôhtowin (being related). In so doing, we were able to see how an ethic of relational accountability to self, community, nation, and more-than-human relations was woven through the stories of the Elders, as they envisioned what Cree masculinities could be.