Authors: The Center for Native American Youth at The Aspen Institute

Publication Year: 2016

Last Updated: 2016-12-23

Journal: Center for Native American Youth

Keywords: Youth, AI/AN, health and wellness

Abstract:

Too often, the lives of Native American youth are understood through a narrow media lens that focuses almost exclusively on disparities and the challenges that face them, and very little on solutions. This leaves the public feeling that the barriers in front of Native youth are intractable — their situation, hopeless.

This could not be further from the truth. Native youth are accomplishing incredible things together across the country every day. They are drawing strength from their cultures to help revive their languages, improve their peers’ outcomes in schools, improve their communities’ health by bringing back traditional foods, and reach out and give hope to other youth when hope is hard to find.

Every year, the Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) travels to tribal communities across the country to meet directly with youth and the community members who support them. We hold roundtables and meetings with educators and service providers, tribal leaders, and other stakeholders who can help us understand Native youth challenges and priorities. More important, these meetings help us identify solutions — especially those led by youth themselves. Since our founding, we have visited 260 tribal communities in 24 states. What we learn in these communities drives our work.

File Download:

Source: Link to Original Article

Source: https://www.cnay.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/state-of-native-youth-report-2016-web-spread.pdf