Document Type
Brief
Publication Date
4-28-2020
Abstract
In March 2019, the Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (IMAGEN) co-hosted a workshop with the Little Shell Band of Chippewa Indians in Great Falls, Montana. IMAGEN is a native-female designed, led, and controlled network that adapts, builds, and shares innovative skills and tools to address the needs of adolescent girls. Building off of decades of programmatic research and lessons learned, IMAGEN brings locally-led indigenous organizations together to propose innovative ways to reclaim female social infrastructure and matrilineal traditions. Through this framework, girl-centered programs adapted to the local context are built to impart important skills, safe havens, and mentor networks to American Indian girls. Over the course of the two days, youth and adult participants from all corners of Montana’s indigenous community took part in facilitated exercises and discussions to understand the transformative potential of applying a girl-centered approach to program design, as well as what a culturally-appropriate local roll-out could look like. Through activities centered around topics such as asset-building, programmatic segmentation, and community mapping, participants identified several regionally-specific vulnerabilities and opportunities that existed for adolescent girls throughout tribal areas in the state.
DOI
10.31899/pgy17.1047
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Hallman, Kelly, Eva Roca, and Stephanie Martinez. 2020. "Reclaiming matrilineal traditions and building Girl Societies in indigenous Montana," IMAGEN Brief no. 5. New York: Indigenous Adolescent Girls' Empowerment Network (IMAGEN).
Project
The Indigenous Adolescent Girls' Empowerment Network (IMAGEN); GIRL Center