title: The relevance of cultural activities in ethnic identity among California Native American youth.
abstract: This study analyzed data from a large statewide sample of Native American adolescents throughout California to determine whether participation in cultural practices was associated with stronger ethnic identity. The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) scale was used to measure the ethnic identity of 945 Native American adolescents (416 male, 529 female) aged 13 - 19 across California. Respondents who participated in cultural activities including pow-wows, sweat lodge, drum group and roundhouse dance reported significantly higher Native American ethnic identity than their counterparts who did not take part in cultural activities. The association between cultural activities and ethnic identity was only significant among urban youth and not among reservation youth. Higher grades in school were associated with ethnic identity among females but not among males. Findings from this study show a strong association between cultural activities and traditional practices with tribal enculturation among Native American youth in California. Cultural-based practices to enhance Native identity could be useful to improve mental and behavioral health among Native American youth.
authors.affiliation: Native American Health Center, Family & Child Guidance Clinic, 3124 International Blvd, Oakland, CA 94601, USA. kurts@nativehealth.org
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schweigman
authors.forename: Claradina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Soto
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Unger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002140:California / Q000208:ethnology; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012933:Social Identification; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult