First Nations Voice

AUGUST 2014 • PAGE 5 NEWSTHATNOT ONLYINFORMS, BUTINSPIRES. Trust Shaneen Robinson and NtawnisPiapot,yourWinnipeg correspondents,togatherstories fromanAboriginalperspective. APTNNationalNews reports each weeknight from regional bureaus across Canada, delivering the stories that affect us all. aptn.ca/news Universities across Canada are failing Aboriginal men. In my time working at the University of Manitoba and after having consulted with post-secondary institutions there still seems to be little understanding of the specific issues that are faced by men and an inability to respond. Women have been an historical disadvantaged group, but a group which has been making up for lost ground and perhaps due to social roles as a nurturer, mother, caregivers; women are doing better and have been engaging in education. While they still have a long way to go, men are not doing so well. We are simply not doing a good job at major post-secondary institutions in enrolling and eventually graduating young Aboriginal men. It seems that most major institutions have become prisoners to their highly structured nature and are unable to respond to the needs of Aboriginal people beyond a beads and feathers mentality. They are unable to create innovative programming beyond small programs that actually work and are long-term. In 2011 Statistics Canada Household survey showed that Indigenous men are falling behind compared to Indigenous women in post-secondary attainment. The proportion of Aboriginal women aged 35 to 44 who had a university degree in 2011 was 13.6%, compared with 10.2% of those aged 55 to 64. Among Aboriginal men, there was no difference in the proportions that held a university degree between the age groups. It was 7.6% for both men aged 35 to 44 and 55 to 64. In 2011, younger Aboriginal women and men were both more likely to have college diplomas than older ones. Among Aboriginal women aged 35 to 44, 27.1% had a college diploma in 2011, compared with 21.4% of those aged 55 to 64. With a proportion of 18.3%, Aboriginal men aged 35 to 44 were also more likely to have college diplomas than those aged 55 to 64 where the proportion was 14.1%. This lack of educational achievement is causing distortions in the Indigenous population as men fall further behind. Men are beginning to lose the roles that have traditionally been assigned to them as protectors of the family, community and their children. While it has been very positive the overall improvement in the condition of women, the strengthening of one sex does not exclude strengthening the educational attainment of the other. What are men to be? Basil Johnston writes that a community had a duty to train its members as individuals not so much for the community's benefit (though this benefit did exist), but rather for the person's good. The men (and women) so trained had received a gift from the community that was to be acknowledged in some way. That way consisted simply of enlarging one's own scope to the fullest of one's capacity, for the stronger the man, the stronger was the community. Equally true: the stronger the community, the firmer were its members. At the Sprucewood Sundance in which I dance in June, the young men are told that to be man is to be strong, to care for your children, to only make love to a women you wish to marry, to not drink, to not take drugs, to work hard. I have never met a man who does not want these things, men want to be successful in life; to stand proudly beside their families. I have taught classes at university reserved exclusively for Aboriginal peoples that will have 19 women and 2 men and invariable the men will drop out. What are we doing wrong? People with degrees are not better human beings than people without degrees, but those who lack education are generally unable to get well paying employment. Lack of employment equals poverty, a lack of self-esteem and other social issues. If a man cannot support his family and lacks an education both Western and traditional then how can he have the skills necessary to enter into a relationship with others around them and be supportive. It is hard to create new programming at universities, because they have other budgetary priorities and do not want to spend any money. I have just managed to start a new program that is reserved for men. The University of Manitoba Aboriginal Okihcihtaw Young Warriors program is a first year university grouping of courses offered in a block format meaning a new course is taken every month. This type of program has never been attempted before and exists no where else in Canada. We have been tearing our hair out trying to make this work within the university environment. To promote this program we have not received any budget to advertise and must rely on word of mouth and facebook. This program is about bringing men into a highly challenging environment that has some testosterone, books, words, but is still supportive and creates a sense of community between students and even professors that make men not a student number, but a friend. By Robert Falcon Ouellette Improving educational opportunities for Aboriginal men

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