taking action

Background

• Aboriginal people in Canada:– 3% of population– 9% of new HIV infections– contract HIV approximately 10 years younger.

• Significant gaps in Aboriginal youth HIV prevention services, capacity and resources.

Conventional Prevention

A – AbstinenceB – Be faithfulC – Condomize

Objectives

1. To explore the links between colonization and HIV

2. To build Aboriginal youth capacity in HIV prevention

3. To look at whether using the arts works

How?

Community support

Youth leadership

MET

HO

DS

Taking Action WorkshopsDay 1 (evening)• Introductions• All about HIV, games

Day 2 (whole day)• Games, activities• Work with artists

Day 3 (whole day)• Finish productions• Community display

Follow-up

Artists & Groups

Khanawake

Theatre

Photography

Graffiti

Painting

Taking

Why Art?

“Because it is fun.”

Why Art? Process

•“Yah, like more group activities, instead of like sitting there and listening because I have trouble with that sometimes”

Participatory

Why Art? Process

•R: [We should play our movie in] every reservation in Canada and North America if you can… Basically worldwide or nation wide… Because we are natives and we stand strong to our pride.”

Builds pride and

esteem

Why Art?

“It is important to focus on the positive– the good things.”

Why Art? Process

•“Yeah, because if you make a picture of HIV, I guess it would be, um, people would see it and take, think “oh, it is such a big issue. It is being made in to art” … it helps you learn about who your people are

Learn about

culture

• “Rather than being told what to do…We don’t just worry about it, we get up and do it.”

Empowering

Why Art? Process

Why Art? Process

•“Yeah, because it is hard for me knowing that my dad is and I don’t really know how to cope with the fact that he is going to go and even just getting the family mentally prepared for the loss, because I know it is going to be hard when my dad hits the hospital stage”

Healing

•“you talk so much you don’t really remember, but if you do art you are going to remember it all”

Enhances Recall

Why Art? Process

•It was the first time [I handled camera equipment and]… I am pretty interested in it”

Learning

skills

Why Art? Process

•“It would be a good starter for those who don’t know much about it. Like in our video we gave more information and stuff about it… but I say that video would be a good way to start talking about it…”

Help talk about hard

things:

•“Yeah, some people might not like any certain kind of art, like music, and you know, someone may like music a lot but don’t like painting. Somebody likes painting. You can get something for everybody. And I know a lot of kids like art and stuff because it is fun”

Different types of art engages different youth

The product: Photography in Khanawake

See: www.TakingAction4Youth.org

Painting

Some are well…

The people crying represent people with HIV. They are mostly red people, Aboriginal people. Black, white and yellow (Asian) people are doing better. They are not crying…

The Pain (KP)

My life - is a shitload of pain. There ain’t no gain from the shit I do man

All I can do is smoke like a train I’m soo high I feel like a planeI ain’t no bitch. I don’t need to carry no gat or a vest. People

see me in the hood and turn the other away and run like a bitch.

We need hope – no more dope.Sometimes we feel like we gotta run away. But we know we

gotta stand and fight the pain. Show everyone how we run this place. First Nation people. It’s like we got slapped. Straight across the face. See us. You know. We were here first.

Murals: Kettle Point

So, back to why art?

Why art? ProductPride about art

“Yah, because everyone is like really proud and happy for us and brought more people together to see it…”

Communicates and transmits information• “

Like you can paint like a real good picture and it says like a whole bunch of stuff about HIV and hang it up somewhere where people might read it and they will know and they will want to tell more people.”

Why Art?

“Cause lots of people look at art, especially Native people because we have really unique art.”

Why art? ProductRaises awareness “I: So how could doing a play like this in the community help us stop HIV? R: Um, it would let them think about safe sex first, or something”

Conveys emotion• “

I think it was, a lot of people were generally touched by it, I saw some people crying, I got flowers from two people I did not know before”

Why art? ProductArt draws youth into learning about HIV• “

I: Did you ever think before the workshop that you could use your art to talk about HIV? R: Um. Not before it. But after it… Because it is funner and you actually are telling people what you feel about it”

Why art? Product

Product can be something tangible and long lasting• “I liked it a lot …for people who like aren’t native they would watch this and be

like oh they are people too, I keep bringing it back because like I go to school out of town and people are always like oh natives bluh bad, but we are not, so I think that if we would show them this video then it would be like oh!”

Acknowledgements

• CIHR - HIV/AIDS Community Based Research Branch

• Indigenous Health Research Development Program

• The Ontario HIV Treatment Network

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Taking Action: Art and Aboriginal Youth 4 HIV

Prevention

Thanks to all our community partners,

youth, artists & students!