Living by the Seven Sacred Teachings: supporting resilience in Indigenous boys and young men through healthy relationships

Introduction Indigenous young men living on Turtle Island—what is colonially known as Canada—face a multitude of intersectional challenges to their wellbeing. Colonially imposed cultural genocide has significantly undermined cultural frameworks and lifestyles. Additionally, racist and marginalizing policies and practices enacted by colonial and more recent settler governments have left communities grappling with intergenerational trauma. This trauma is compounded by systemic factors that leave Indigenous communities underserved and under-resourced in every respect. Finally, cultural colonization regarding gender identity and roles serves to further undermine cultural frameworks. Here, young men especially are exposed to toxic notions of masculinity that often intersect with undiagnosed depression, anxiety, and/or trauma, augmenting unhealthy coping practices. Methods Our participatory action research in a Mi'kma'ki community in Atlantic Canada, the unceded and ancestral territories of the Mi'kmaw people, explored “what boys need to grow up into healthy young men.” We used a variety of reflective approaches to answer this question. Results Our central findings highlighted the importance of living by the seven sacred, or grandfather, teachings; how best to share these teachings with boys (through healthy role models); and what they mean for healthy masculinity, overall resilience, and wellbeing. Discussion Our findings have practical implications for supporting Indigenous young men's resilience and mental health. Importantly, our work also contributes to our understanding of how to engage young men in mental health-focused research and the trajectories resilience research can explore in supporting mental health outcomes.