Sacred Fire Gatherings and Indigenous Men’s Wellness

Relatively little attention has been paid to Indigenous men’s health and wellbeing in the urban landscape and even less attention has been given to urban experiential land-based health and wellbeing activities for Indigenous men as they connect to masculinities. This paper is built out of findings from an experiential land-based research project that the authors developed to address needs pertaining to Indigenous masculinities and men’s wellbeing in Ontario, Canada. In collaboration with knowledge keepers and adhering to Anishinaabe, Nehiyaw, and Haudenosaunee cultural protocols, the authors organized bi-weekly sacred fire gatherings to bring men together in community. Once a month the participants received “teachings” about the fire, Indigenous masculinities, and Indigenous men’s wellbeing from Indigenous traditional knowledge carriers. The research team conducted semi-structured interviews with seven participants, with the facilitator and with the four knowledge carriers. One of the participants was a transgender man, and the rest were cisgender men. The themes that emerged from the interviews reveal the sacred fire as the heart of the health practice and possibilities the research team set out to explore. The sacred fires were literally and physically at the centre of the gatherings, and act as the central organizing theme of the results presented. From the experiences of the participants, the sacred fire is an example of way to create a space and an activity for men to gather a place to talk about Indigenous masculinities and wellness for Indigenous men in the urban setting.