ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to contextualize Indigenous parenting customs by discussing the historical trauma context which affects many diverse Indigenous cultures worldwide whose parenting practices have been, and continue to be, affected by colonization and the ensuing traumatization of entire communities. It also explains past and current discriminatory government policies and practices that shaped relationships between Indigenous parents and their children and most importantly, Indigenous parenting beliefs, values, and practices, or ethnotheories that are shared by diverse communities and that are understood to build resiliency in children. The chapter presents examples of unique issues and practices for specific Indigenous Nations from Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Scandinavia. It offers recommendations for future research using decolonizing Indigenous research methodologies. The parenting practices include continued differences between Indigenous parenting practices from those of Western parenting and differences between Nations, attachment and parental sensitivity, competency, autonomy, and discipline, cultural values and the transmission of values.
