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“My Culture, My Family, My School, Me”: Identifying Strengths and Challenges in the Lives and Communities of American Indian Youth

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Abstract

Historically, the majority of research with American Indian (AI) youth and communities has focused on vulnerabilities, problems, and needs rather than resilience, strengths, and assets. Adding to the limited research which has examined AI youth and communities using the strengths perspective, we examined community assets, personal strengths, community challenges, and personal hardships as perceived by reservation-based, Northern Plains AI youth via open-ended survey questions. The present study was conducted during the spring and fall of 2009 at a tribal school in the Northern Plains (N = 95; n = 37 males; n = 58 females; aged 14.4–20.95 years; M = 17.3, SD = 1.47 years). The majority of youth self-identified their ethnic background as solely AI (85.3 %), with small percentages reporting additional ethnic backgrounds. Analyses revealed that the people in their lives, especially their families, are significant sources of strength for AI youth. Findings also indicated that AI youth have a positive orientation toward themselves and their communities, which was evidenced by the fact that the youth identified more strengths than challenges in their lives. Somewhat unexpectedly, when asked what aspects of their lives and communities they would most like to change, a significant number of the youth identified they wanted to change “nothing” about their personal lives or their communities. Reasons for these responses are explored.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by funding to the second author from Sanford Research/USD faculty startup funds. Special thanks are extended to Shannon White, Dawn Johnson, Jessica Hanson, Jennifer Prasek, Kathy Prasek, and Dr. Amy Elliott for their helpful contributions to this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sanford Research/University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, SD, 57104, USA

    Tracey R. McMahon & DenYelle Baete Kenyon

  2. Buffalo County Community Partners, Kearney, NE, USA

    Jessica S. Carter

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  1. Tracey R. McMahon
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  2. DenYelle Baete Kenyon
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  3. Jessica S. Carter
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Correspondence to DenYelle Baete Kenyon.

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McMahon, T.R., Kenyon, D.B. & Carter, J.S. “My Culture, My Family, My School, Me”: Identifying Strengths and Challenges in the Lives and Communities of American Indian Youth. J Child Fam Stud 22, 694–706 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-012-9623-z

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