Reframing the narrative: Indigenous men using culture as medicine
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Stunning art and contemporary Indigenous music weaves throughout. This pozcast highlights one way that Indigenous men and forward-thinking, community support services work to promote a positive sense of Indigenous masculinity––grounding it in culture. Centering the idea that culture heals, our episode guests highlight the pioneering work of the DUDES’ Club.
DUDES Club, which began in 2010 in Vancouver, B.C., is a participant-led program drawing on a proven model of Indigenous health promotion. The program aims to support a brotherhood of Indigenous men in their mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness. With local, satellite sites across British Columbia, and more recently to other areas of the country, the DUDES Club exponential growth clearly underscores a huge, unmet need.
Our episode guests
Trevor Stratton
Communities, Networks, and Alliances (CAAN), Indigenous Leadership Policy Manager & pozcast Guest Host.
Trevor is our guest host for this episode and identifies as a two-spirit man of Ojibwe heritage of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. Diagnosed with HIV in 1990, Trevor is the current Indigenous Leadership Policy Manager with Communities, Networks, and Alliances (formerly the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network). Trevor has an enormously successful and storied career representing the concerns of Indigenous peoples at national and international levels as a powerful advocate.
Robert Chippeway
DUDES Club Champion and Leader, Vancouver, British Columbia
Robert is an impassioned advocate of the DUDES Club, which he credits as helping to turn his life around, and setting him on a cultural path of wellness.
Would you rather be able to fly or read minds? Both
Would you rather travel back in time or travel to the future? I'm happy where I am right now
A good Singer or good dancer? Singer
Would you rather give up social media altogether or become a social media influencer? Become a social media influencer
Paul Gross
Co-founder Medical Director, Vancouver, British Columbia
Dr. Gross is a family physician with a practice at spectrum health and Kilala Lelum. His clinical work focuses on men’s health and HIV. In collaboration with Richard Johnson, he co-founded the DUDES Club in 2010. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia.
Would you rather be able to fly or read minds? Fly
Would you rather travel back in time or travel to the future? The present is a beautiful place
Would you rather give up social media altogether or become a social media influencer? Give it up
Don Turner
DUDES Club Program Coordinator, Chatham-Kent, Ontario
Don comes from a background of Blackfeet Nation / Black Canadian. His life journey has led him to embrace his Indigenous spirituality. Done identifies as a 2-spirited person. He is a member of the National Aboriginal Hepatitis C Council, CAAN Sacred Leadership Council and has lived with HIV for over thirty years.
Would you rather be able to fly or read minds? Read minds
A good singer or good dancer? A good dancer
Would you rather give up social media altogether or become a social media influencer? Give it up
Some episode insight, notes, and links...
The episode big takeaway… the future is bright for Indigenous men!
This pozcast reveals a vision of the future, and here in the present, where Indigenous men have long begun to live their lives. Connected to other men, to their families and their communities. The best part is they’re doing this from a place of wellness and good health, grounded in the idea that culture is our medicine!
It’s widely recognized by many community programs, Indigenous scholars, and policy makers that the ways Indigenous men live their lives has been violently shaped by a colonial-ized understanding of manhood. Such a mindset often only ever promotes a stereotypical understanding of Indigenous men as embracing a Western form of toxic masculinity.
These are images of Indigenous men that harmfully spread widely held assumptions that Indigenous men are only violent, savage, and dangerous. Indigenous men are much more than the challenges they experience! Still, far too few positive descriptions of Indigenous men exist to robustly counter this dominating narrative.
In fact, we often and only ever hear stories focused on the harmful behaviours of Indigenous men—horrific stories about their criminality, their over-representation in the criminal justice system, significant disparities in health (e.g., HIV, mental health challenges), and as perpetrators of family violence.
Rarely, if ever, do we hear stories focused on Indigenous men mobilizing the strengths of their cultures to navigate life challenges, to heal, and to live in wellness. It is high time to reframe these stories and adopt a more balanced approach that focuses equal attention on Indigenous masculinity grounded in culture as medicine, toward healing from the ravages of colonialism.
Opportunities to learn more …
2SHAWLS—A community-based study in partnership with the 2-Spirited People of the First Nation, focused on the cultural resiliencies (i.e., personal, cultural, community, and spiritual assets and resources) of two-spirit men living long-term with HIV.
Okicitawak:Worthy Young Men – Perceptions of Indigenous Manhood—In this TEDX MacEwan U talk, Kesstin O’Dell grounds what it means to be a man with a Cree understanding of warrior and describe his approach as a journey, a passion, anda committed choice to heal from colonialism.
Strong Medicine—Developed by Community, Networks and Alliances and CATIE, this impactful video weaves together Indigenous culture and wellbeing with Western knowledge of HIV testing and treatment. It is a compelling story that speaks to the power of culture to heal and is meant to encourage Indigenous people to get tested, to start, and stay on HIV treatment.
Some further resources and external links related to our guests’ work…
Trevor Stratton
Manager for CAAN, known as Communities,Alliances and Networks, Trevor has over a decade of experience working with Indigenous Peoples and HIV at the international level. Trevor is a Board Director for 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations in Toronto, the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE) and the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR).
Check out a couple project highlights...
International Indigenous HIV & AIDS Community
Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS for Indigenous Peoples and Communities from 2018 to 2024
Global Indigenous Commitment-to-Action on HIV and AIDS (Consensus Statement)
Connect with Trevor... Facebook, Twitter: @sofreeradical, Instagram: @sofreeradical
Dr. Paul Gross
The Power of Connections: Howa Novel Canadian Men’s Wellness Program is Improving the Health and Well-being of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Men; The International Indigenous Policy Journal
Connect with Paul... Facebook, Instagram
Connect with Donald... Facebook
Connect with Robert... Facebook
