Findings
Phase 1: Interviews and Discussion Groups
Between September 2022 and August 2023, 18 Indigenous Fathers and 23 Service Providers participated in an interview or focus group with Indigenous research assistants.
We used Grounded Theory and Two-Eyed Seeing approaches to analyze the data, which revealed that Indigenous fathers experience a Journey to Fatherhood consisting of 5 phases:
Visioning Fatherhood: This is about having aspirations to be a father.
Planning for Fatherhood: Focusing on preparing for the role.
Birth of Baby: Involves caring for the newborn and partner.
Pursuing Fatherhood: Balancing the needs of the father, infant, and partner to support healthy parenting.
Navigating Fatherhood: Managing responsibilities to safeguard future generations.
Service Providers support fathers by helping them to Plan, Prepare, Be Present, Promote, and Protect.
Note: We are still gathering information from Two-Spirit parents.
Besides going through the Journey to Fatherhood, Indigenous Fathers also told us about medical issues that their child or their child’s mother faced.
When we asked them what they’d want in a Parenting Program for fathers, they suggested some important things. These include learning about their culture, gaining skills for early life and taking care newborns, and understanding their roles as fathers. They also emphasized the need for the program to address the trauma caused by colonialism.
Fathers also offered insights on how to make a Parenting Program for fathers more effective and how to encourage them to attend. They had several valuable suggestions, like offering help with transportation costs to get to the program, providing meals and gift cards at program sessions, and having a facilitator who is an Elder, has personal experience as a father, and is knowledgeable about the local community.
Fathers also desire be to recognized through family gatherings, given the space to showcase their learning, and to be acknowledged for participating in the program.
Phase 1: Graphic Recordings
On October 11, 2023, an important meeting happened in the Six Nations community. Indigenous fathers, parents, and service providers who help families came together for this event
The reason for this meeting was to talk about what we learned in the first part of our study and to understand what Indigenous fathers need in a parenting program. The exciting conversation at this event was captured as a large graphic in real-time by Britanny Datchko from Fuselight.
On April 6, 2023, the Steering Committee met in-person to discuss the meaning of the findings from Phase 1 of the study. This graphic illustrates the discussion and collaboration among Steering Committee members during an in-person data analysis meeting. It was created in real-time by two graphic recorders from Fuselight Creative.