Amplifying Elder voices: perspectives on a culturally tailored curriculum to respond to American Indian youth development needs in out-of-school time

ABSTRACT

This study examined a culturally tailored life skills curriculum for addressing tribal youth needs within a positive youth development programme context. In partnership with a Midwest United States tribe and a community-based out-of-school time (OST) organization, the research team interviewed tribal Elders to understand the potential fit of the curriculum and assess how well the curriculum might align with and support youths’ needs. Tribal Elder perspectives highlighted the role of poverty in exacerbating youth risks and identified the limited educational and enrichment opportunities available to tribal youth. Curriculum strengths identified by the tribal Elders included a focus on encouraging self-esteem, identifying emotions and stress, and skill-building opportunities. Curriculum gaps included the need for a greater emphasis on life planning and social-emotional skill development activities and suicide prevention exercises. Founded on a multi-year trust-based relationship with tribal Elders, this study illuminated the needs and strengths of American Indian youth and necessary resources in supporting youth development.

KEYWORDS:

• Native and indigenous youth
• culturally responsive evaluation
• out-of-school time
• life skills curriculum
• youth development

Introduction

American Indian (AI) youth face an overwhelming set of disparities and long-standing trauma, with some of the highest rates of depression, suicide, substance abuse, self-harm, and sexual violence among any U.S. youth population (N. Bowman, 2018, Jackson & Hodge, 2010; Leavitt et al., 2018; Zimiles, 2013). Additionally, AI youth represent the youth population with the lowest graduation rate among public high school students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2021). Researchers have explored theoretical and programmatic frameworks to develop interventions addressing the daunting issues facing AI youth (Kelley & Lowe, 2018; Ross, 2016; Whitesell et al., 2018). These frameworks include positive youth development (PYD) approaches (Arnold & Gagnon, 2020; Benson et al., 2006; Lerner et al., 2021) and community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches (Antonio et al., 2015; Tang; Yan et al., 2019; Tomlin et al., 2012) tailored to meet the needs of AI youth.

PYD is a programme framework focusing on the unique, individualized strengths of young people and the social supports and skill-building opportunities needed to help them be successful rather than centring on the challenges youth may encounter (Arnold & Silliman, 2017; Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2016). Strengths-focused approaches have been used in previous studies of Indigenous cultures, such as Welch et al.’s (2021) examination of the stories, memories, and feelings of Cherokee women, Ersan’s (2021) discussion of the Circle of Courage programme and Rushing et al. (2017) exploration of the Healthy and Empowered Youth Project. CBPR approaches leverage collaborations with community stakeholders to advance research and interventions to address community needs (Brear et al., 2018; Tang; Yan et al., 2019), and is an effective strategy in Indigenous research (Antonio et al., 2015; Tomlin et al., 2012). Together, PYD and CBPR approaches are well-aligned with Indigenous communities because they promote Native strengths including a strong sense of cultural identity, sharing and community-building, and spirituality (Alfred, 2015; Bryant et al., 2021; Thomas et al., 2016).

Although out-of-school time (OST) programmes such as summer camps and afterschool programmes guided by PYD and community-based approaches have been positioned as catalysts for pro-social change in youth (Durlak et al., 2010; Little et al., 2008; Warner et al., 2021), including select vulnerable and low-resourced populations (Hermens et al., 2017; Povilaitis et al., 2023; Smith et al., 2017), there has been limited to mixed empirical evidence of such OST programme impacts for minority populations including AI youth (Gagnon et al., 2020; Welch et al., 2019). Specifically, while some OST programmes are efficacious for promoting positive social-emotional, health, or learning outcomes in AI youth (Donovan, 2015; Ross, 2016; Smith et al., 2017; Weaver & Jackson, 2010), other studies of AI youth and family interventions suggest attempts to target such outcomes are unsuccessful or produce mixed results (Antonio et al., 2015; Boyd‐Ball, 2003; Jackson & Hodge, 2010). Indeed, a systematic review of culturally sensitive interventions targeting AI youth suggested many studies in the review failed to report significant or consistent effects of these programmes (Jackson & Hodge, 2010).

Further, research with AI communities has been associated with deleterious outcomes for tribal participants, with such research characterized by intrusion, exploitation, and competing AI and ‘western’ cultural contexts and approaches (de Oliveira & Nisbett, 2017; LaFrance & Nichols, 2010; Whitesell et al., 2018). Scholars have attempted to address this incongruence by partnering with tribal communities using culturally situated (i.e. culturally responsive, culturally sensitive) interventions (LaFromboise & Lewis, 2008). Such approaches are culturally situated because they ‘honor both the cultural and political constructs that should be part of any Indigenous model’ (Bowman & Dodge-Francis, 2018, p. 18). Examples of such interventions include the Native STAND (Students Together Against Negative Decisions) curriculum (Rushing et al., 2017) and the Healthy Living in Two Worlds wellness curriculum (Weaver & Jackson, 2010).

As previously identified, however, many of these ‘culturally situated’ AI targeted interventions have failed to produce statistically significant effects. Furthermore, as culturally sensitive interventions designed for one tribal community with a particular AI population may not be consistent with the unique cultural and historical context of another (B. G. Brown et al., 2012), interventions are needed to serve AI populations whose needs have not yet been addressed through PYD programming.

The current study is part of a long-term partnership examining the efficacy of a culturally tailored life skills development curriculum within a community-based OST context to meet the needs of AI youth on a tribal reservation in the Midwest United States. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to dialogue, document, and learn with tribal Elders about the relevance (via a community-researcher partnership) of a culturally tailored curriculum to address youth needs identified by the leaders. In this process, we interviewed tribal Elders to understand how well an existing youth life skills curriculum might align with and support youths’ needs and to identify potential gaps to ensure the curriculum was relevant and impactful for youth. The research questions were, ‘What are the needs of tribal youth?’ and ‘How does an American Indian life skills curriculum complement tribal youth strengths and needs?’

Literature review

Culturally responsive evaluation and research

Native and Indigenous cultures vary greatly and each is distinct; across North and South America, there are more than 2,000 tribal groups (Jackson & Hodge, 2010; Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, 2023). The transfer of Native and Indigenous culture from one generation to the next, often through an oral tradition based on storytelling, is central to many tribal communities (Iseke, 2013; Ross, 2016). For example, in Ross’s (2016) study of Ojibwe cultural transfer, she found that Elders and teachers told personal stories about their lived experiences highlighting personal and family member histories, meanings, roles, and responsibilities. In the current study, Native and Indigenous cultural values communicated and assessed through an oral methodology were central to this study of a curriculum targeting AI youth needs, the curriculum’s fit within the community, and the potential need for adaptation.

Demonstrating culturally responsive research practices was a primary intention of the current study. To that end, this study was informed by a Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE) conceptual framework (Manswell‐Butty et al., 2004), which considers three CRE dimensions: 1) context, 2) culture, and 3) responsiveness. Regarding context, CREs attempt to fully describe a program’s ‘geographic location, timing, political and social climate, economic conditions … ’ (Manswell‐Butty et al., 2004, p. 38). We conducted the current study in close collaboration with an OST programme provider serving [tribal] youth within a large rural reservation in the Midwest United States. Ongoing engagement with the tribe over a three-year period allowed for the establishment of familiarity and trust with OST programme administrators and tribal Elders.

Integrating culture using CRE involves recognizing a group’s ‘values, traditions, norms, customs, arts, history, folklore, and institutions’ (Manswell‐Butty et al., 2004, p. 39). Through a collaboration with the OST programme provider and the tribal community, the current project intentionally targeted AI youths’ experiences during OST framed within tribal values (e.g. respect, compassion, honesty, generosity, humility). The transfer of Native and Indigenous culture from one generation to the next, often through an oral tradition based on storytelling, is central to many tribal communities (Iseke, 2013; Ross, 2016). For example, in Ross’s (2016) study of Ojibwe cultural transfer, she found that Elders and teachers told personal stories about their lived experiences highlighting personal and family member histories, meanings, roles, and responsibilities. In the current study, Native and Indigenous cultural values communicated and assessed through an oral methodology were central to this study of a curriculum targeting AI youth needs, the curriculum’s fit within the community, and the potential need for adaptation.

Demonstrating responsiveness via CRE means considering ‘value perspectives shared by stakeholders in reporting a program’s success and failures’ (Manswell‐Butty et al., 2004, p. 39). We worked closely with the OST provider and the tribe for three years, a critical period of trust and relationship building that helped us understand tribal Elders’ perspectives.

Out-of-school time youth development programs as interventions serving AI youth

Youth-focused programmes and interventions build youth strengths and prevent risk behaviours (Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2016; Deutsch et al., 2017), and many of these programmes occur during OST (Durlak et al., 2010). Common OST youth programme examples include afterschool and summer programmes (Little et al., 2008; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019). OST programmes are often conceptually grounded in either PYD (Arnold & Silliman, 2017; Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2016) or prevention (see B. G. Brown et al., 2012 use of the Strategic Prevention Framework, SPF) frameworks, which direct programme providers to boost social supports and skill-building opportunities to enhance youth assets (i.e. PYD) or to decrease risky behaviours and enhance resilience (i.e. SPF) through similar developmental activities. The current study was theoretically framed through PYD.

OST has been a targeted setting for AI youth interventions, as these programmes allow educators and researchers to engage community-based OST organizations in the delivery of the intervention (Donovan, 2015; Kelley & Lowe, 2018; Ross, 2016; Weaver & Jackson, 2010). The literature associated with PYD-framed OST interventions for AI youth (delivered through afterschool programmes, summer camps, and retreat centre workshops) is emergent but growing (Gagnon et al., 2020), and these studies have targeted a variety of youth outcomes, including substance abuse prevention (Donovan, 2015); diabetes prevention (National Congress of American Indians, 2023); physical health and physical activity promotion (Kelley & Lowe, 2018; Weaver & Jackson, 2010); sexual and reproductive health (Rushing et al., 2017); teenage pregnancy and sexual assault (Schanen et al., 2017); and intergenerational cultural transfer from Elders to youth (Ross, 2016). An essential dimension of these OST programmes has been the inclusion of Native cultural practices and values, which have been found to enhance PYD outcomes in youth (Ersan & Rodriguez, 2021; Kenyon & Hanson, 2012; Rushing et al., 2017).

Current study

The current study extends the work of LaFromboise (1996) to tailor an established curriculum to address the needs of the partner community youth. Specifically, this study utilizes the American Indian Life Skills Curriculum (AILSC), initially developed by LaFromboise (1996) in work with the New Mexico Zuni Pueblo community, as an entry to the current study’s conversations with tribal Elders. The AILSC focuses on developing youth social and cognitive skills while incorporating culturally specific and relevant values, norms, beliefs, and behaviours representing a young person’s broader ecology. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration ‘s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP) (Suicide Prevention Resource Center, 2007) recognizes the AILSC as an evidence-based programme. Such recognition through the NREPP is a significant accomplishment as it supports that the intervention has undergone rigorous evaluation and is effective in addressing specific issues or conditions. NREPP highlights the curriculum’s focus on depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts and behaviours as promising areas of evidence-based programming.

Method

Research ethics approval and participant protection

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Clemson University, and informed consent was obtained for all participants. Identifiers for the organization, site, and Elders have been removed.

Program site and curriculum

The current project involved collaboration with an OST programme provider, a nationally recognized OST youth serving organization, which has served the [tribal partner] youth for over 140 years within a large rural reservation in the Midwest United States. The programmatic mission is to strengthen youth and families in reservation communities by capitalizing on the unique assets of each person and the combined capabilities of the community. Following a three-year relationship-building process with the OST programme leaders, staff, and tribal stakeholders (Creswell & Miller, 2000), the research team interviewed tribal Elders directly involved with the OST organization and its programming (Rossi et al., 2019) to understand the potential fit of AILSC, to assess how well the curriculum might align with and support youths’ needs, and to identify potential gaps to ensure the curriculum was relevant and impactful for youth.

The universal AILSC is the current version of the Zuni Life Skills Development programme, a culturally relevant curriculum focused on the Zuni Pueblo peoples of New Mexico (LaFromboise, 1996; LaFromboise & Lewis, 2008). Initially, the curriculum specifically emphasized Zuni cultural values, norms, belief systems, and other critical social/cultural characteristics (LaFromboise, 1996). This curriculum has since been adapted into the universal AILSC, which is designed to be culturally adapted to other AI populations. The AILSC aims to prevent or reduce AI youth suicidal behaviour and develop life-affirming skills to build individual and community resiliency.

The AILSC focuses on social and cognitive skills while incorporating culturally specific and relevant values, norms, beliefs, and behaviours. Specifically, it stresses three domains of well-being: (1) helping one another; (2) group belonging; and (3) spiritual belief systems and practices. Further, the curriculum is divided into seven main themes: building self-esteem, identifying emotions and stress, increasing communication and problem-solving skills, recognizing and eliminating self-destructive behaviour, information on suicide, suicide intervention training, and setting personal and community goals. Curriculum lessons are structured to be interactive and incorporate real-life experiences and concerns such as divorce, job loss, legal, family addiction, and others.

Data collection and participants

To complete the tribal Elder interviews, the research team developed an interview protocol targeting Board members of the OST programme and related tribal Elder stakeholders. Purposive sampling with the OST board members allowed the research team to identify stakeholders who had relationships with the young people served by the OST organization’s programmes and services (Creswell & Poth, 2016). The Elders are members of a tribal community in the Midwest United Stated and, therefore, could speak directly to cultural and spiritual values and who had direct experience related to the daily challenges tribal youth face. Over the Fall of 2019, these tribal Elders were contacted for potential interviews and five interviews were scheduled. The remaining Elders did not respond to the interview request. Three of the five sampled tribal stakeholders were female, two were male, and all identified as [Indigenous]. Elders’ backgrounds included an Elder who is active in tribal government and a strong youth advocate; an Elder who teaches financial education to students in K-12 school settings; an Elder who supports tribal youth through considerable volunteer work; an Elder who has been involved in the community for close to 10 years; and an Elder who is a local business leader involved in state government.

In 2020, interviews were conducted using the Zoom platform following a semi-structured format that allowed the research team to accommodate participants’ knowledge and involvement with the [partner organization] (Seidman, 2006). While face-to-face interviews were initially planned, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic limited such contact, a challenge noted in the literature (Krause et al., 2021; Reñosa et al., 2021). Before the interviews, interviewees were provided with information about the AILSC activities and targeted outcomes and asked to review the AILSC in preparation for the interview.

The seven-item interview protocol focused on four broad themes. First, the interviews elicited information about challenges facing youth on the reservation. Second, considering those challenges, the interviews asked respondents to consider the curriculum strengths, gaps, and relevance. Sample questions included, ‘What do you believe is the primary challenge(s) that youth face today?’; ‘Based on your review of the curriculum, what are the curriculum’s strengths within the context of youth needs and challenges?’; and ‘There are three domains of well-being in the curriculum: helping one another, group belonging and spiritual belief systems and practices. Are these domains culturally relevant given the needs of youth? Are any domains missing?’

Data analysis and validation

A two-step inductive-deductive data analysis process was used. In the first step, a research team member completed initial coding of the interview transcripts that was informed (deductively) by the extant literature supporting the study’s conceptual framework (Saldaña, 2014). This ‘provisional coding’ allowed the coder to (inductively) develop a second round of more ‘elaborate’ coding to modify, construct, and refine themes. Manual coding was preferred over the use of an electronic analysis tool due to the relatively small sample size. To validate and confirm construct validity, all codes were independently reviewed by a secondary coder. The iterative process allowed for codes to be adjusted based on feedback and to confirm intercoder agreement (Creswell & Poth, 2016). This process produced categories which were then developed into themes reflecting the challenges and barriers that youth faced and considerations for enhancing the relevance of the AILSC for these youth. At multiple occasions, the coders returned to the data to ensure that interpretations matched Tribal Elders’ perspectives.

Research team positionality

As human instruments involved in analysing and validating the coding and interpretation of the tribal Elders’ responses, the authors acknowledge their positionality within this study of tribal leaders’ perspectives of Indigenous youth (Berger, 2015; Bourke, 2014). Three authors have conducted extensive research on OST experiences and are youth development scholars. None of the authors have a tribal identity. The research team members, particularly the data coders, used a reflective process to reduce potential bias and ensure participants were accurately and authentically represented (Creswell & Miller, 2000).

Results

Youth challenges

The first interview question asked respondents to describe the primary challenges that young people face in this community. There was broad agreement on the types of challenges experienced by this population; poverty, addiction, suicide, lack of opportunity, and general hopelessness were all identified as substantive barriers for these young people. Four of the five respondents mentioned underlying issues of extreme poverty. One respondent noted:

A lot of poverty- one of the poorest counties in the nation. There is a lot of suicide in the area. Mainly 13–18-year-olds that have a high suicide rate. He does not know the cause, but children do not have a smiley face unless you see them at the <redacted> OST organization. There are a lot of kids that rely on the OST organization for food and all the staff at the OST organization that he sees are very good with the children. Gives them hope and a safe place.

In addition to poverty, 3 of the five respondents mentioned suicide and 2 of the five mentioned the remoteness of these rural communities as key challenges for youth. For example, respondents shared:

Poverty and suicide is a big issue. She knows of 1 or 2 that mentioned it. It may be because of depression. Poverty is the #1 issue, along with this is the ruralness of our area. Because they are so rural it is very hard to get professionals out here. There is no life for someone who will come out to work here. The lifestyle is so different for people. Impacts opportunities for rural youth. They may not even know what they are missing because most stay in the area.

Two respondents each identified addiction and lack of opportunities as ongoing challenges for youth. Respondent 5 captured many of the themes identified across the interview in this response. This response captures the systemic and the multi-pronged challenges that come with poverty, lack of health care, addiction, and extreme remoteness among others.

lack of access to resources. There is one more youth organization. Aside from these no access to extracurricular activities, additional learning, tutoring. Socioeconomic status of our communities is huge. Lack of strong sense of family, youth being raised by grandma, uncle, auntie etc. Lack of parental figures in youth lives. May lead to addictions, alcohol, meth, opioids etc. Primarily on the reservations because they are rural and remote. Unfortunately, this is how young people are being split up from their families- leads to homelessness, a lot of this is due to drug usage. These are even deeper issues- all of these issues may cause issues at school and with the school system. Some do not have clothes, are not well fed, etc. This despair the mindset, depression results in high suicide rates. With no structure and parent at home it is easy for young people to feel no hope. What does their support system look like is really key?

Another respondent noted many of the same challenges but also highlighted the ongoing issue of hopelessness across these communities.

Trying to get kids to school over long distances- geographical is very difficult. There is a family that does not have running water or electricity. Extreme poverty… Methamphetamine epidemic on the reservation is very difficult- General safety issues, alcoholism is rampant. Lack of hope … there is no hope.

Curriculum strengths

The second interview question focused on respondents’ perceptions of the strengths of the AIL Curriculum. None of the interviewees had substantive experience with the AILSC before the interview so they were not able to speak with great depth on curriculum details, but they were able to speak to the relevance of broad themes and possible strengths and gaps related to the identified themes.

The question focused on curriculum strengths reinforces previous responses, with one respondent each mentioning poverty, hopelessness, and lack of opportunities. One respondent reflected on the impacts of poverty on youth emotional and mental well-being.

Young people have to see a way out- they have to break the cycle of poverty. Poverty is living for the day- generational poverty means no one is there to teach you how to plan for the long term.

One area identified as a clear curriculum strength is the emphasis on self-esteem and identifying emotions and stress. Two respondents each identified these as critical strengths on the AILSC. Several respondents mentioned the idea of ensuring that youth were able to build life-skills that allowed them to be more proactive in solving life problems.

Self-esteem for her is the one of the biggest challenges. This is an immediate thing that could be focused on to help these young people.

if we can help young people to identify problems more proactively through the way they act-or watching for signs and symptoms maybe we can help them more in the long run.

Being able to bring some of the emotions to the surface and help guide young people on how to deal with these issues. They do not have hardly any mental health services in rural [state community] much less on the reservation.

Another respondent noted the curriculum appears to have a good focus on communication and problem-solving skills, which are very important for these young people. They noted:

Increasing communication and problem solving. A lot of the children there interact with each other, and they help each other out when another is down and older teens often help the younger ones. If older teens have gone through some type of training and are empowered to help the younger ones this could help them.

Another curriculum strength identified by one respondent was cultural awareness and the ability to connect culture to a strong sense of self.

Building self-esteem is critical- this character-building piece is critical. If you have a lack of hope but you have a strong sense of culture and who you are- this can give you strength. Cultural awareness is very important. Cultural dynamic is key.

In sum, respondents reiterated the importance of focusing on the ongoing and many challenges and barriers that this population experiences. Results specifically highlight curriculum strengths as the focus on self -esteem, identifying emotions and stress, and cultural awareness.

Curriculum gaps

Participants were also asked if they identified gaps in the curriculum, with a particular focus on areas of unmet need for youth. Fewer areas of overlap were identified across responses in comparison to earlier questions and several respondents highlighted gaps that other respondents identified as strengths. Respectively, two respondents each identified gaps in the curriculum related to identifying emotions and stress and problem-solving capability. One respondent noted why the curriculum needed a stronger focus on coping:

As one who employs Native American people- they do not deal with stress well. When faced with stress, they either shut down or quit. Being able to cope with stress is key!

Another interviewee noted identifying emotions and stress as a gap but also highlighted other potential gaps, one of which was noted as a strength by an earlier respondent.

Building self-esteem, identifying emotions and stress and recognizing and eliminating self-destructive behavior are areas of unmet need. She believes they need more content on this for their young people.

An ongoing thread throughout the interviews was the lack of opportunities for youth. As described by the respondents, limited opportunities result in a need for life planning and other specific social cognitive development opportunities. As an example, one participant noted the need for a wider set of extracurricular opportunities for young people.

They focus on sports a lot, which is good, but it leaves kids out that are not athletic minded. She believes they should focus more on things that kids that are not athletically inclined can participate in. They do a good job connecting with kids on an athletic basis but do not provide a lot of opportunities for kids interested in other things.

Other unmet needs are reinforced by three respondents with a focus on specific areas of strength development like cultural awareness and understanding. Participants described the unmet needs of youth, such as the need for youth to learn problem-solving. One described how ‘they are leaving a lot of kids behind.’

The need for youth to have positive incentives in their lives was stressed. One respondent shared examples like going to the movies, celebrating birthdays, and other small joys that give glimmers of hope to young people.

I would like to do a glow walk. I would like to have more incentives for these young people to get them out and about … Take them to the movies. I try to do a monthly dinner for the kid’s birthdays … cake and ice cream at least.

Finally, a gap that one respondent noted is the need for more cultural integration and a grounding in the [tribal] values. This individual said:

the youth would benefit from more cultural integration. Providing a separate component to supplement this curriculum- guiding principles – the 12 values of the [tribe] could be integrated into the curriculum. These values are not really taught in school and often not taught at home and these could be integrated.

In summary, all respondents noted gaps in the curriculum, with modest agreement around skill building including problem solving and identifying emotions and stress as curriculum gaps. Additional gaps focused on areas such as extracurricular and life planning activities and incentivizing youth to address suicide prevention and reduce self-destructive behaviour.

Curriculum cultural relevance

The interviews also elicited information about the cultural relevance of AILSC for youth. The AILSC incorporates cultural relevance, in part by including the three domains of well-being: 1) helping on another, 2) group belonging and 3) spiritual belief systems and practices. As such, it was important to ask tribal Elder stakeholders if these domains are culturally relevant for youth and whether any domains are missing. The primary themes articulated in this question focused on the need to adapt to local and cultural needs, connect to spiritual history and understand youth backgrounds.

One respondent noted that the domains are culturally relevant for tribal youth and did not identify additional areas of unmet need. Another respondent echoed this conclusion but also noted their own lack of expertise to provide feedback on this.

Overall, all respondents agreed that the cultural perspective is critical to youth finding ways to integrate that into their extracurricular or other educational experiences. One respondent noted the critical need but also the uncertainty of how to integrate more of these values, ‘I believe this is important. Cultural elements are included to a certain degree and there is a need there, but she does not articulate how to do this.’ Another interviewee noted important cultural elements with more specificity and identified ways OST organizations and curriculum like AILS might provide more robust programming. This respondent highlights ideas that also may have a career development, life planning focus.

these are culturally relevant. There are quite a few kids that are into the Pow-wow and if some of the older kids could do bead, quill work, and other skills to share their culture with younger kids and others that would be good. A lot of the kids like the Pow-wow music so if there was an opportunity for the kids to learn the drums and songs. Sewing machines where young people could learn to sew in a Sewing class would be great. Storytelling and getting Elders to talk to the kids about their history- a lot of kids do not understand what it is to have [a traditional] name as an example. (The domains) are really good ones.

Another respondent noted they are not familiar with how spiritual history is taught but that this piece of tradition is very important. This individual also highlighted the unique communities within the larger nation and expressed the importance of adapting to local needs within these differences. He shared,

our reservations are each unique- each reservation is all different. They are all [part of our tribe] but they are all different. [You have to] adapt the curriculum to meet the local needs. We are very spiritual people. We have a belief system … and often suppress it. It could be really useful to have a stronger connection to our spiritual history, like the star quilt blanket- if [youth] could learn about the relevance of this.

The study results reveal important themes to consider in customizing a curriculum to meet local tribal needs, experiences, and enhance relevant cultural and spiritual connections. All respondents indicated that the domains are culturally relevant and important. Several of the respondents emphasized the importance of ensuring that the AILSC is customized to meet local needs and that it incorporates spiritual and specific youth needs. The relevance of these themes within the context of existing literature as well as future research and practice recommendations are discussed in the following section.

Discussion

Trust enabled this study, as the project was founded on a commitment from the research team to build a long-term relationship with the OST organization and tribal Elders. This commitment centred on a willingness to listen, to learn, to show respect (M. A. Brown & DiLallo, 2020), and to be the ‘soft voice in the room’- what Farella et al. (2021b) referred to as cultural humility [i.e. ‘an overt and stated cultural ignorance and a willingness and desire to be taught’ (p. 2)]. Further, the centring of Elders and other tribal Elders within this study reflected the responsive evaluation dimension of CRE (Manswell‐Butty et al., 2004) as well as the work of other Native and Indigenous scholars recognizing the role of Elders and other community leaders as critical wisdom keepers (M. A. Brown & DiLallo, 2020, Garrett, 2014; Iseke, 2013).

Tribal Elder perspectives highlighted the role of poverty in exacerbating youth risk for suicide, depression, and substance abuse, which reflect risks reported in other studies of AI youth (Ersan & Rodriguez, 2021, Gone & Trimble, 2012; Leavitt et al., 2018; McMahon et al., 2013). Risks identified in this study were undergirded by a community context of extreme poverty, a factor known to exacerbate youth risk factors (Burnette & Figley, 2016). Notably, the study findings reveal that youth have few educational and enrichment opportunities outside the programmes and services available through the established OST organization. Youth-serving organizations (e.g. 4-H, YMCA, BGCA) have been vital collaborators with Native and Indigenous communities in implementing contemporary OST interventions to improve youth outcomes (Farella, Hauser, et al., 2021a; Hingle et al., 2019). The current study affirmed how important the OST organization has been within the [tribal] community in supporting the needs of AI youth. Although such examples are encouraging, researchers contend that youth-serving organizations continue to need ‘effective mechanisms to include Indigenous identified and cultural knowledge in order to be effective educators’ (Farella et al., 2021b, p.4).

The study findings supported the AILSC structure, content, and cultural framing echoing assessments from other researchers regarding AILSC strengths (Garrett et al., 2014). Clear alignment was identified between youth needs and the AILSC. Curriculum strengths identified by Elders included its focus on building youth self-esteem and assisting youth in managing emotions and stress. Additionally, tribal Elders expressed how youth need life-skill building opportunities, which reflected the AILSC’s focus on communication and problem-solving skills. Tribal Elders also appreciated how culture and cultural identity were emphasized in the curriculum. In this way, the AILSC is positioned to address a critical need of AI youth for opportunities to participate in activities associated with their Native and Indigenous culture (Wexler et al., 2016).

The study findings highlighted risks associated with self-harming behaviours among tribal youth. Within this context of youth self-harm, Tribal Elders underscored that a youth curriculum needed to include suicide prevention and awareness activities; therefore, a specific focus on suicide prevention was another identified strength of the AILSC. Suicide is a prominent risk factor for AI youth (Burnette & Figley, 2016), and Pham et al. (2022) noted that a defining characteristic of the AILSC was the inclusion of interactive scenarios placing AI youth into challenging life situations including those that could lead to self-harm. In this way, the AILSC emphasizes skill building and an opportunity to learn through real-world examples, which are foundational elements of a positive youth development approach (Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2016).

In addition to curriculum strengths, this study identified ways the AILSC could be further developed to address [tribal] youth needs. For example, curriculum gaps identified by tribal Elders included life planning activities associated with the lack of youth opportunities. The need to emphasize life planning is consistent with gaps identified in previous research (Garrett et al., 2014). As noted by Wexler et al. (2016), ‘a young person’s future outlook is important, including his or her expectations for future accomplishments, and having realistic education and vocational plans’ (p. 359). Interventions such as the First Nations Career-Life Planning Model (Neumann et al., 2000) and the First Nations Cultural Leadership Course (Crooks et al., 2010) may provide beneficial avenues for strengthening existing curricula (including the AILSC) in gap areas identified in this study.

Study strengths and limitations

Consistent with prior research with Native and/or Indigenous youth populations, this study acknowledged the importance of a culturally tailored approach when assessing or implementing an intervention (M. A. Brown & DiLallo, 2020; Kelley & Lowe, 2018; Kenyon & Hanson, 2012), in this case the AILSC. The use of CRE as a guiding framework (see Manswell‐Butty et al., 2004) informed the research team’s approach to understand and explain the context, to align the project with the [tribal] values, and to gain an authentic understanding of tribal stakeholder perspectives. In addition, this study’s use of interviews with tribal Elders as the primary method was congruent with the oral tradition and storytelling within Native and Indigenous communities in transferring knowledge (Iseke, 2013; Ross, 2016).

While this study covers essential ground, some study limitations are acknowledged. First, this study targeted tribal Elders on the partner organization’s Board of Directors. Therefore, findings from the small purposeful sample are not generalizable to wider populations of AI tribal stakeholders. It is possible that the perspectives of the Elders participating in this study may differ from other Elders within the tribe. In addition, as identified in our positionality statement, no member of the research team is Native, and we acknowledge that possible power dynamics between researchers and stakeholders can influence results within community-based participatory research (Muhammad et al., 2015; Wallerstein et al., 2019). Challenges we experienced in fully engaging tribal Elders is consistent with the literature, including findings from a community-based research systematic review (George et al., 2015) and studies of Indigenous (McGrath et al., 2013) and limited- resourced communities (Brear et al., 2018). We view this study as a bridge towards future engagement, as having Tribal Elders’ feedback on the curriculum will provide a more culturally relevant discussion that can be framed with the broader group of tribal stakeholders.

Results of this study provide a critical lens illuminating the needs of AI youth contextualized within the tribal community and the ongoing challenges experienced by that tribe. This investigation also provided ideas for reaching [tribal] youth and strengthening AI youth interventions. Second, direct contact with tribal Elders was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making virtual engagement necessary. While Zoom was an effective methodological adaptation, it was not reflective of typical or preferred ways of AI communication and interaction as suggested by some studies (See Garrett et al., 2014; comparison of traditional Native American cultural values/expectations and contemporary American values/expectations; See also Hingle et al., 2019 comparison of face-to-face versus digital engagement). Third, this study attempted to engage a larger number of tribal Elders than the number that ultimately participated. Although fewer interviews were conducted, research by Guest et al. (2006) found that up to six interviews yielded up to eighty percent of relevant codes around a targeted topic.

Future directions

The findings of this study can be advanced in multiple ways. For instance, in this study tribal Elders described the need for youth to have diverse programming opportunities (e.g. sport centred and/or art centred). As suggested by Welch et al. (2019), not only should the AILSC integrate these activities, but consideration should be given to incorporating culturally centred activities that allow both tribal Elders and young people to (re)connect with their culture. Future studies should examine AI youth perspectives on how a programme curriculum such as the AILSC fits within and represents their community. Despite the increased focus on empowerment and including the voice of stakeholders, less attention is given to youth voice (Yan et al., 2019).

More information is needed about the AILSC’s programme implementation and dosage to determine how and for whom the programme is most beneficial (Gagnon et al., 2020). Implementation has been an important dimension in some AI studies (B. Brown et al., 2013), and the implementation science literature (Durlak & DuPre, 2008) suggests several factors that could influence AILSC programme outcomes, including how well participants are engaged, how lessons may be adapted by instructors, and the extent to which there is curriculum fidelity during implementation. Additionally, a systematic review by Antonio et al. (2015) demonstrated how AI programme duration and dosage vary, and the ideal amount of AILS program participation needed within the targeted community is not known. Subsequent research could explore these dimensions of implementation and dosage.

Conclusions

With established trust as a foundation, the current study catalysed tribal Elder engagement and elevated their voices to help the research team as partners better understand the relevance and applicability of an adapted evidence-based intervention to address youth risks and boost youth skills. This project highlights the benefits associated with coupling a youth development approach with a culturally responsive evaluation (CRE) framework, including thoughtful and intentional consideration of Manswell‐Butty et al. (2004) context, culture, and responsiveness framework. Moreover, this study demonstrates the importance of authentic and ongoing collaboration and communication with tribal Elders and community partners when developing targeted interventions to address youth needs within unique tribal contexts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Clemson University College of Behavioural, Social, and Health Sciences .