MICUNAY YOUTH PROTOCOL
Introduction
In the next two hours or so, we will be talking with you about what you think about Native American identity, challenges you may face in your urban community. We will also present information from a program on alcohol and drug use and ask for your opinions about things you like or don’t like and how to make it better. You are the experts here. We would like your honest opinions, so please do not be afraid to speak up or to be critical.
We will protect your identity and the information you give us. However, please remember that we cannot control what other youth in the group share outside of this session. We ask you to be sensitive to this and not share with others what youth say during this session.
Youth Ideas Regarding Native Identity and Traditions [15 mins]
What does Native American tradition mean to you? Please list some things that come to mind. These can be anything - people, places, concepts, or activities. [Write all suggestions on the board. Make sure all participants get a chance to speak. Try to list at least 10 items.]
How connected do you feel to Native American identity and traditions?
What about your Native American friends and peers? How do they feel about Native American identity? Are there a lot of differences among Native American youth in how they feel about Native American identity and traditions – for example by Tribe, male vs. female, or other things?
Reasons youth may use and not use AOD / Consequences of use [15 mins]
Which substances do Native American youth use the most?
What do you think are the main reasons Native American youth may choose to use drugs and alcohol? What are reasons that youth may choose not to use?
What sorts of things happen when drinking or using drugs? In other words, what are some of the consequences? [Facilitator: Probe for sexual activity, violence]
[Write all suggestions on the board. Prompt as necessary: interpersonal stress with family and peers, feeling left out as a Native American youth, stress that goes with being a Native American youth (experiencing or seeing violence), identity and peer pressure, issues.]
MICUNAY Presentation and feedback [55 mins]
We will now give a short presentation on a program called MICUNAY that is designed to help youth experience Native American traditions and help them make healthier choices. We would like your honest reactions about this program to help us make this program better and fit for youth.
Specifically, we want to talk with you about information we think would be important to talk to teens about and get your opinions on what you think is the most important to discuss with them to help them make healthier choices. We know from our experience that having tradition and also talking about ways to avoid alcohol and drug use can help youth make healthier choices. What do you think are things that help teens make healthier choices?
One thing we talk to youth about in our other programs is the actual amount of alcohol and drug use among teens their age because most teens think everyone is using when the numbers are actually much lower. Here is some information we might present to the teens (give handouts). What do you think of this information? What could we do to make it better? What do you think works well in terms of talking to teens about AOD? What doesn’t work well?
[Continue to present information from protocol to providers to get opinions on content.]
Next, we want to ask you about traditional activities that you think would be helpful and important for youth to participate in. Some of the activities we have thought about putting into our program are: drumming, jewelry making, and sacred use of tobacco versus commercial use… etc.
What did you think of the Drumming activity? Does this connect with your sense of what it means to be Native? Would it work for both boys and girls? Does it apply across Tribes or different types of Native youth you know? Should we change this activity or possibly replace it with anything else?
How about the Traditional Tobacco Workshop? [Same prompts as above.]
What about the Jewelry Making activity? [Same prompts as above.]
What are other traditional activities that Native American youth may be interested in participating in?
Recruitment [15 mins]
Is there anything you can think of that would make Native American youth feel comfortable about participating in MICUNAY?
What are the best ways to reach Native youth who might benefit from the MICUNAY program? We have considered Facebook, Craigslist, and posting flyers. Is there anything else you can think of?
Conclusion [10 mins]
Is there anything else you would like to share with us that we have not gotten the chance to cover?
Thank you very much for your participation today. Your opinions and advice are extremely important.