“Stay Strong, Stay Sexy, Stay Native”: Storying Indigenous youth HIV prevention activism:

BackgroundTaking Action II is a community-based participatory action research project that adopted a strengths-based approach to thinking about Indigenous youth HIV prevention activism.MethodsEighteen diverse Indigenous youth leaders produced digital stories about Indigenizing HIV prevention during the summer of 2012 at a week-long retreat. Youth were interviewed twice: right after they created their stories and again after community screenings. In the summer of 2013, youth reunited to collaboratively analyze the themes and meanings of their stories.ResultsSeven overlapping themes emerged that demonstrated how youth see HIV in the context of their lives' and community. The stories make connections between HIV and structural violence, culture and relationships. In particular, in the context of HIV prevention, they focus on (1) the role of family and elders, (2) traditional sacred notions of sexuality, (3) the importance of education, (4) reclaiming history, (5) focusing on strength, (6) Indigenous cosmolog...