TakingITGlobal

6 P R O C E S S T hrough every stage of the forum and production of this report it was critical for us to engage with one another and our knowledge through processes that reflected Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. At the center of this was a shared sense of interconnectedness and value of relationships, understanding that we each have purpose and carry gifts that connect us to our past, present and future. Identifying these gifts and finding ways to contribute them to our communities is an important part of honouring our ancestors and fulfilling our responsibilities to future generations—we involved an Elder and child in the forum in order to help remind us of this. Participants were invited to be Youth Contributors for the forum by Organizers and Lead Facilitators Lindsay DuPré and Joshua Stribbell. All were Indigenous youth that one or both of them had collaborated with before or were connected to through their networks; they focused on youth who already had substantial experience taking on leadership roles in their communities. While it was understood that a small forum could not reflect the huge diversity that exists across Indigenous youth leaders, Lindsay and Joshua aimed to bring together a group between the ages of 18 and 30 that had representation from First Nations, Métis and Inuit groups; different geographic regions including urban, rural and remote; male, female and Two Spirit identities; youth who are parents; and a range of passions and leadership focuses. Selecting who to invite through our existing relationships allowed us to convene a group who we already had some established trust with and who we thought could offer diverse insights that complemented one another. Qualitative methods grounded in Indigenist and participatory action research were used to capture themes across our different experiences and stories. Within this, a diverse range of techniques were used throughout the forum including arts based, narrative, design thinking, popular education and sharing circle activities. Organizers developed an original plan for the forum that offered a skeleton for when and how these different approaches could be used, however, the actual format evolved continuously according to the priorities that emerged from the group. Ceremony and food also played a powerful role as research tools in our process as they supported our relationship building and allowed us to reflect and engage in dialogue in a holistic way. Informed consent was given by all contributors including our Elder and how our perspectives were documented during each forum activity was determined by what the group felt was appropriate. Some parts were audio recorded, handwritten, photographed and others not formally documented at all. Following the completion of the forum this information was then reviewed and underwent thematic analysis according to the particular questions we explored during each activity. All of the youth contributors were given the opportunity to give feedback on the report content before being finalized. Through this process we came to six overall recommendations that we believe—if followed appropriately—can have a positive impact on the wellbeing of Indigenous youth by guiding people to work with us in more respectful and meaningful ways. We encourage you to take these perspectives seriously and to help us mobilize this knowledge through your work and networks. F O R U M O V E R V I E W

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