Abstract
Violence is one of the most serious issues Blackfeet men face today. Too often conversation about violence in and beyond the Blackfeet focuses on men as perpetrators while ignoring the complexity of how gender intersects with violence. This dissertation scrutinizes the entangled roles of gendering and settler colonialism in how they influence the epidemic of violence by and against Indigenous men. Through Blackfeet life histories and stories, I identify and examine how some men navigate colonial gendering and violence to create better worlds for themselves and their families. While the life histories and stories used here contain elements of pain, my focus centers pushing beyond a 'Vizenor-esque' survivance to an understanding of thrivance and what it entails, including the need for creating communities of support, personal growth, and healing. This comprehensive examination of Blackfeet masculinity contributes to gender studies, feminist studies, and settler colonial studies