Boys in grades seven to 10 in Thunder Bay, Ont., are talking about what it means to be a kind man and how that can help them work towards ending violence against women and girls.
The male student leaders were participating in a November 30 workshop and training session organized by Lakehead Public Schools, and aimed at reducing and preventing gender-based violence.
The daylong event for the boys also looked at the messages and masculine role models boys encounter in music, media and social platforms, and examined what constitutes a healthy relationship. It also offered an Indigenous perspective on masculinity.
Kind men honour and respect
“Kind men honour and respect women, kind men honour and respect other men, and kind men honour and respect all of creation,” says Marco Pasinelli, the Kizhaay Anishinaabe Niin program worker at the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre.
The 12-week domestic assault intervention program looks at the historical impact of colonization, residential school and the Sixties Scoop on traditional male roles in communities.
“We try to get back to the focus that it was not the traditional way of men to be neglectful or harmful to women,” said Pasinelli.
“The women had very respectful roles in the community. They were seen as lifegivers, caretakers and as the educators.”
One group in society not better than another
That egalitarian society is in sharp contrast to today’s mass society, which is “a power and control pyramid, and it’s very much a male dominant society,” said Pasinelli. T
The program offers smudging, drumming and an in-depth look at the Seven Grandfather Teachings, much of it led by Nathaniel Moses, the centre’s cultural resources coordinator.
“One of the teachings is Grandmother Moon and Grandfather Sun. We acknowledge those two, and every part of our culture has that ‘two’, there’s not only one that’s better than the other. We’re all as one,” said Moses.
At the conclusion of the workshop, the boys were tasked with going back to their schools and helping to organize events to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women on December 6.
You can hear the entire CBC Up North interview with Nathaniel Moses and Marco Pasinelli here.