Aboriginal Fathers Support Groups: Bridging the Gap between Displacement and Family Balance

Abstract

The Aboriginal Fathers Project set out to explore the roles of fathers in British Columbia’s Aboriginal families. The project aimed to investigate the ways community programs could support fathers’ involvement with their children, and increase their participation in family-centered programs. This article briefly describes the project and outlines a few of the major findings from the research. This article discusses findings from the project which highlight the impact of colonialism and assimilation processes on the roles of Aboriginal fathers. The suggestion to develop father-specific support groups and the use of traditional practices and spirituality in the support groups is discussed.

Peyakohewamak—Needs of Involved Nehiyaw (Cree) Fathers Supporting Their Partners During Pregnancy: Findings From the ENRICH Study

“…One of the primary challenges to providing partner support during pregnancy that was suggested in our study was the ongoing impacts of colonization on Nehiyaw men's sense of identity and roles within families and communities. This is in line with qualitative research in British Columbia that examined Indigenous fathers support groups and suggests that insecurities in being a father ultimately stem from loss of culture and ensuing loss of identity (Manahan & Ball, 2007).…”

“…A prevailing theme we found is that although Nehiyaw fathers wanted to be involved in their spouse's pregnancy, they often felt alienated during the perinatal care experience. Our findings and the work of others suggest that health care providers and organizations could shift perinatal care programs to leverage support from Indigenous fathers and include them and their family in this programming (Ball, 2009(Ball, , 2010Carter et al, 2016;Kowlessar et al, 2015;Manahan & Ball, 2007;Poh et al, 2014). Exciting and promising interventions to include men in pregnancy are underway in Canada, such as Dads in Gear (Bottorff et al, 2017) and the Father Friendly Initiative (Gervais, de Montigny, Lacharité, & Dubeau, 2015), yet those focusing on the specific and unique realities of Indigenous men are scarce and needed.…”

First Nations Men Experiencing Fatherhood

“…The author, being an aboriginal father, also drew on his own fatherhood experiences. 24 Manahan and Ball 25 explored aboriginal fathers' support groups in British Columbia, Canada. The authors focused on male involvement in parenting, particularly with the factors required to enhance the role of fathers and parenting their children.…”

“…Furthermore, the study is considered the impact of colonisation and assimilation on parenting and the importance of holistic healing moving forward for indigenous men. 25 Reilly and Rees 3 examined 31 interviews with expert First Nations community members to understand the roles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fathers, grandfathers and uncles. This article studied men's business and women business pre-and post-British imperialism.…”

Handcuffed protectors? Palestinian fatherhood‐protection unlocking its chains

“…Ball () posits that in Canada, the removal of children from family care to residential schools produced fissures in the sociocultural transmission of fatherhood roles across generations and created challenges for indigenous fathers' sustained involvement with their children. Colonialism has dismantled traditional male roles in indigenous communities by destroying traditions in which men were the protectors of families and communities (Duran & Duran, ) and by removing the roles of providing for their families through hunting, gathering, and building shelters (Manahan & Ball, ). Unlike mothers who can still perform traditional child and home‐care duties, many indigenous fathers feel they are living in a void.…”