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Achieve. Overcoming Challenges. Challenges. Cultural differences Resources Socio-economic status Discrimination/racism At-risk youth Maltreated youth Isolation. Discrimination/racism.
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Achieve Overcoming Challenges
Challenges • Cultural differences • Resources • Socio-economic status • Discrimination/racism • At-risk youth • Maltreated youth • Isolation
Discrimination/racism “After enduring a long history of prejudice and indignities, American Indians remain the only ethnic group that is still the subject of national and local team mascots, sports chants, stereotypical statuary and widely accepted derogatory language and place names.” Whitbeck, Chen, et al, 2004
Cultural Differences • Forms/applications • Procedures: formalizing the informal • Grant reporting requirements • Qualitative vs. quantitative • Cookie-cutter assumptions (uni-Native approach)
Isolation Out of sight, out of mind Geographic: Remote Air-accessible /poor roads Peripheral to political/economic centers & drivers (some exceptions) Social: Lack of services (esp. mental & behavioral health) Marginalized populations Lack of connectedness “Bell jar effect”
Resources • Lack of partners • Absence of civic organizations • Lack of local capacity (functioning, available adults) • Overworked and overstressed adults • Lack of role models • Lack of stable, safe environments
Socio-Economics Unemployment rates: AK Native villages: 35 to 65% Standing Rock: 84% Native Americans in poverty: 28.4% Nation as a whole: 15.3% Sioux Indians: 97% Standing Rock: 6 police patrolling 2.3 million acres Alaska Native villages: no police; nearest state trooper: ~ 1 hour flight away • Excessive poverty rates • Lack of basic infrastructure (indoor plumbing, clinics, law enforcement, etc) • Lack of political status (some exceptions) • Racial biases, stereotypes & racism
At-Risk Youth • Suicide • Accidental death • Social isolation/ennui • Loss of culture/language • High drop-out rates • High delinquency rates Standing Rock Reservation has the highest suicide rate in the lower 48 states 14% of AK is Alaska Native; 29% of juveniles in the juvenile justice system are Alaska Native On Standing Rock Reservation, less than 45% graduate high school
Maltreatment Developmental trauma disorder/PTSD: Relational (distrustful) Behavioral Cognitive (dissociation) Loss of expectancy of protection by others Distrust of protective caretaker In Alaska, 53% of Alaska Native children suffer maltreatment
Successful Tribal Mentoring … Understands/operates from indigenous worldviews Validates/accepts cultural differences & approaches Develops appropriate indicators of success Undertakes responsive not adaptive programming Martial arts program, Tanana, AK
Successful tribal mentoring… Mentors the mentors Substantively integrates tribal communities/tribal leadership Actively acknowledges/addresses mental/behavioral health component Establishes broader connections within and without indigenous world World champion sprint musher George Attla with mentee, Huslia, AK