How to Maintain Your Social & Emotional Wellbeing as a Young First Nations Youth

It’s all about connecting with your mob, and yarning with your Elders.

This article is written in partnership with Cancer Council, in consultation with Whadjuk Yamatji Advocate for the First Nations Youth Advisory Group, Jonathon Garlett. 

For young First Nations mob, looking after your social and emotional wellbeing is an important part of being a young person.

One way to look after your wellbeing is to get involved with your own Indigenous cultural ways of looking after yourself and each other.

We sat down with Whadjuk Yamatji Advocate for the First Nations Youth Advisory Group, Jonathon Garlett. And he shared some of his life experience and tips for young Aboriginal people about how to connect their culture and look after their mental wellbeing.

Learn about culture.

As a young First Nations person, learning about your culture helps you to be better informed about your heritage and family.

For Jonathon, he was able to learn more about his culture from a very young age “shadowing a lot of [the] great trailblazers” in his community.

“I was pretty much shadowing my Elders which is a pretty awesome thing to do,” he said.

“So I would see and experience things firsthand from a cultural perspective.

“These are things from dances, singing, the cultural healing aspect to everything. I had a pretty good exposure to culture at a young age and that’s inspired me to do what I do today.”

Get involved with your community.

Getting involved with your own community is one way of not only staying connected to your culture, but also giving back.

For Jonathon, he began getting involved within his community from a really young age. As a kid he would get to follow his grandfather to work at the Strong Spirit Strong Mind Aboriginal Programs.

“So I got real familiar as a kid, understanding the work he used to do and how it benefited our community,” he said.

“So even going to small things like their NAIDOC events and it was a pretty good atmosphere that I got to experience at a young age and even a teenager.

“Now I’m all about the younger generation, building bridges for the community, building partnerships between non-Indigenous and Indigenous people.”

Yarn with your mob and Elders.

Sometimes when life feels rough and you need a bit of advice, there’s nothing better than yarning with your mob and your Elders.

Elders especially can provide so much life and cultural experience to everyday situations affecting your social and mental wellbeing.

“I grew up with my Elders, so pretty much when I was experiencing things like mental health issues…with the cultural protocols that we had, I’m very fortunate to have had cultural healing,” Jonathon said of his experience speaking with his Elders.

“Whether it’s smoking ceremonies, sound healing sessions, even things like yarning circles and talking with our Elders.”

Visit Country.

Spending time on Country can help reduce stress and improve your mental wellbeing. Even if you don’t live on your Country, it can be worthwhile to schedule in time to visit.

When we spoke with Jonathon, he was visiting his Country at Nyyerbup (Woodman Point in Western Australia). 

He describes going back to Country as something like “recharging your batteries”.

“It’s like a wireless charger, it’s like Bluetooth,” he said.

“We are juggling two different worlds at the same time, our cultural world and the Western world.

“The only way to be successful [for him] is to have that connection through Country.”

Stay connected.

Overall, it’s important to stay connected to your culture and heritage through conversations.

It’s not always a walk in the park communicating with your family or loved ones about how you’re feeling, but sometimes having a good yarn about things with people you trust really helps.

Jonathon said he really relies on those trusted family members around him.

“People today…look up to role models like Drake, Chris Brown and LeBron James, Michael Jordan, people they haven’t met,” he said.

“So I always love to remind young people about the ones that are at home.

“The grandfathers, grandmothers, the ones looking after them, they’re going to be the real heroes.”

If you’re looking for more support, don’t hesitate to reach out to someone you know. Or head to the Strong Spirit Strong Mind page to access helpful advice and resources.

If you or anyone you know needs help, support is available now. Call Lifeline on 131 114, 13 Yarn on 13 92 76 or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800. Visit ReachOut to get support to help you with everything from everyday issues through.

Images: Strong Spirit, Strong Mind.