Moments of Warmth and Care in Indigenous Girls’ Relationships: A Lens for Viewing Existing Relational Strengths

Research has established that it takes only one positive adult to change the course of a child’s life (Rutter, 1989). In the present study, we focused on aspects of relationships in the lives of 16 Indigenous girls that created feelings of warmth, love, and care. The purpose of our study was to listen to the girls’ voices to understand their memories of caring moments, what mattered to them, and how they had been cared for in significant life relationships. Eight girls from surrounding communities had been referred for services at Dilico Anishinabek Family Care, an Indigenous child and family mental health care centre; the other eight were from surrounding communities but had not been referred for services. An inductive thematic analysis of conversation transcripts revealed five themes in the girls’ experiences of love, warmth, and care: 1) Honouring Development; 2) Humour, Generosity and Playfulness; 3) Intimacy and Closeness; 4) Inspiring and Confirming Identity and Worth; and 5) Safety and Trust. To promote the wellbeing of Indigenous girls, it is important to support the loving relationships that already exist in their lives. Providing resources to caring adults could foster more quality time and moments of warmth, thereby supporting girls’ wellbeing. Implications for intervention include culturally informed strategies that nurture a felt sense of familiarity with loving and caring relationship experiences and approaches that empower girls to recognize their worthiness of receiving love and care.