Unique Study Explores First Nations Fatherhood

A unique study of Aboriginal fatherhood that has been ongoing at the University of Victoria since 2003 has begun to draw attention to a significant but often ignored First Nations men’s health issue.

Presented at the first national Canadian Conference for Men’s Health in March 2007 in Victoria, BC, the study examines the factors that have influenced the involvement of fathers with their families, children and communities.

Jessica Ball, the principal investigator of the project, and co-researcher Ron George, a hereditary chief of the Wet’su’weten First Nation, have used demographic information to speculate that Aboriginal fathers are the most socially excluded population in North America. Compared to the Canadian male average, Aboriginal fathers have lower marriage rates, lower employment, lower income, higher mobility (50 per cent have moved within last 5 years), and lower education (51 per cent have less than a high school education).

According to the authors of the study, these indicators of social exclusion are also likely to be factors affecting the ability of First Nations men to be involved fathers. Ball and George outline these indicators in a 2006 report on the study entitled Policies and Practices Affecting Aboriginal Fathers’ Involvement with their Children.

“The contributions that Aboriginal fathers can make to their children’s health and development have yet to be recognized,” writes Ball. “Steps need to be taken to reduce systemic barriers and create supportive environments for Aboriginal fathers to initiate and sustain positive relationships with their children.”

While many efforts have been made over the past several years by Aboriginal groups to improve the developmental conditions of infants and young children (particularly through programs such as Health Canada’s Aboriginal Head Start and Maternal Child Health Program), little has been done to recognize the contributions of fathers.

“It’s not so much that we have failed to reach Aboriginal dads. It’s more that we have never tried,” commented one parent support worker in the report.

The major primary data source for the study has been Aboriginal men who identified as fathers in some capacity, either as a birth father or father figure. As of August 2005, 80 fathers had shared their stories with the research team through conversational interviews and survey questionnaires. Participants were about 90 per cent First Nations and 10 per cent Métis, with slightly more than half living off-reserve. Many respondents welcomed the chance to tell their stories.

“[It was great] just to be able to tell our stories, to shine some light on the struggle that some of us Aboriginal men have to learn what it means to be fathers and how to stay connected with our children,” said another study participant.

Almost half the participants indicated that they had had little or no contact with their first born children, or with children from earlier relationships, during the child’s formative years. Fathers tended to be significantly more involved with children who had come later in life, often through a subsequent relationship. Ball and George interpret this as an indication that identifying with fatherhood, learning fathering skills, and learning to be positively involved with children has been a gradual (and sometimes long) process for these men.

The Aboriginal Healing Foundation indicates that for First Nations men and women, loss of culture and the pressures of colonialism have considerably affected positive gender identity. Particularly for men, the traditional role of provider and protector has lost much of its economic and social context, leading to confusion, frustration, addictions and violence. Compounding these problems is the fact that First Nations men are more likely than women to handle their emotional and mental health problems in isolation.

According to Ball and George, much of the problems facing Aboriginal fathers today have their roots in the past. Study participants were quite consistent in their similar descriptions of experiences flowing from colonialism, racism and historical trauma—a theme that the authors describe as “disrupted intergenerational transmission of fathering.”

As one Aboriginal father clearly describes, “Back then [when my first child was born], I didn’t have any communication skills like normal fathers had, the affection of a loving father-child relationship … like kissing your younger children. I only learned years later, that that was what it takes to love a child. Over the years, I have learned to love myself. Then I’ll be able to learn to love my child. There was nothing like that when I was growing up in a residential school. Because I was in residential school until I was 18 years old, so I really didn’t learn anything. No love and no hugs from the priests or the nuns. I just came out cold.” 

With the Aboriginal youth population growing at a faster rate than the general population, more and more young fathers are having to struggle with these same issues. Virtually all the fathers in the study identified a need for more support on parenting. There has been particular concern voiced about adolescent boys becoming fathers without growing up with a strong father figure themselves.

Speaking at the Early Childhood Development Leaders Forum in Vancouver in 2004, Grand Chief Ed John of the First Nations Summit of British Columbia acknowledged, “Fathers may very well be the greatest untapped resources in the lives of Aboriginal children. If we could support them to get involved and stay connected with their children, that would be a big protective factor for these youngsters as they grow up.”

Aboriginal fathers who participated in this project wanted to tell their stories in their own words through a documentary. The project team subsequently created one for workshops and for general viewing. More information on the documentary and other aspects of this unique initiative can be found at: http://www.ecdip.org/fathers/index.htm.

Quotes for this article were taken from Ball and George’s report entitled Policies and Practices Affecting Aboriginal Fathers’ Involvement with their Children. The report was included as a chapter in the new book Aboriginal Policy Research: Moving Forward, Making a Difference, Volume 3.