'I Am a Kind Man' program empowers Aboriginal men

Kizhaay Anishinaabe Niin it's an Ojibway phrase that means, "I am a kind man."

It's also the name of a northern Ontario program that draws on Aboriginal traditions and teachings to empower men to end all forms of violence against Aboriginal women.

Greg Brown, a co-ordinator who runs the I Am a Kind Man program at the N'Swakamok Native Friendship Centre in Sudbury, says that women were once at the centre of Aboriginal culture as teachers and storytellers.

"When colonization came, it [...] changed where the men were seen as more important than the women," Brown said.

"We lost that connection at some point and with this program we're just trying to reconnect the roles of the genders."

Greg Brown speaks with CBC Up North radio show host Jason Turnbull

Reconnecting with tradition

The 12-week program is based on the seven Aboriginal teachings of honesty, truth, humility, love, wisdom, courage and respect. On the 13th week, the men who Brown said can range in age from 14 to 90 graduate from the program.

Brown wants to have the program mandated for men going through the justice system.

"We can't forget them because they are lost too, within themselves," Brown said. "They've been lost through the cracks, they've been lost in the culture."

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Brown has been working at the Friendship Centre since October. He now has more than 10 clients and all of them have made progress, he says. He notes the men are continuing to learnabout and reconnect with their traditions.

"They see for the first time that they are good;that they just went astray," Brown said. "And as they start growing, they grow that pride back."