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Facilitators of Physical Activity Role Models and Community, Family, and Social Supports. The literature revealed that increased community, family, and social supports facilitated physical activity among Indigenous populations (Akande et al., 2021; Ironside, 2019; McHugh, 2011; McHugh et al., 2015; Mansfield et al., 2012; Schinke et al., 2010). This includes Indigenousspecific community support for cultural physical activities, such as powwows (McHugh, 2011) and NAIG (Lavallée et al., 2009/2010). One study highlighted that traditional physical activities (e.g., traditional dance) increased familial bonding (Mansfield et al., 2012). The same study illuminated the importance of a “native friendship centre” (p. 14) with structured programming to increase
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participation in leisure time physical activity. The literature also found that programming should include a range of Indigenous role models (Forneris et al., 2016; McHugh et al., 2019), from extended family members (Lavallée et al., 2009/2010; Mason et al., 2019), to coaches (Lavallée et al., 2009/2010), to elite Indigenous athletes (Blodgett et al., 2011; Hall, 2016; Jacko, 2014), to any exemplary community members (Indigenous Wellness Group, 2012; Mansfield et al. 2012; Pulla, 2013). Some studies also underscored the importance of friends, families, and community to positive physical activity experiences for Indigenous youth specifically (Coppola et al., 2020; Hudson et al., 2020; Mason et al., 2019; McHugh et al., 2019; McHugh, Kingsley, et al., 2013; Schinke et al., 2010; Wicklum et al., 2019). Similar to these findings, the First Nations Information Governance
Centre (2018) uncovered links between increased physical activity and First Nations adults who shared traditional foods with other household members and/or possessed significant feelings of community belonging. Group Activities. One study found that the participants favoured group physical activity over other forms because they fostered “a sense of belonging and community” (Kerpan & Humbert, 2015, p. 1412). The study noted how belonging and community are “important cultural values for urban Aboriginal Peoples” (p. 1412). Another study used physical activity and community togetherness to explore ways to improve health equity for Indigenous women by drawing on the Anishinaabe concept of Wiisokotaatiwin (“gathering together for a purpose”) (McGuire-Adams, 2021, p. 210).