It’s more than just how one feels about chores and involves the world view and paradigm. Indigenous families typically have a world view in which a member of t

It’s more than just how one feels about chores and involves the world view and paradigm. Indigenous families typically have a world view in which a member of the community voluntarily contributes towards something to the greater community. Some tasks are so important that someone somewhere has to do it, and it is less about individual responsibility. And this extends not just to “chores”, but the care of people and care of the land. So this isn’t a “chore”, something someone is forced to do, perhaps even a punishment. If a modern family tries to implement this without dropping the individualist frame, there is a tension in trying to get the child to do something that you yourself don’t really want to do, yet must do as an “adult”. It’s why for my kids, household chores are never done in order to get money. It’s a bit too late to instill this for my teenage step-daughter, but it is something we’re implementing for our 15-month old son. Carol Sanford has written a book called Regenerative Life that describes the kind of world view and paradigm for this, and it is informed from her being raised by her Mohawk grandfather. When she adapted this to her children, she asked her two children what they wanted to contribute. Her 9 year old daughter wanted to pay the bills, and her even younger son wanted to cook dinner. She didn’t throw them into the deep end, and instead acted as a resource and helped developed their individual capacity to contribute in that way. When they were older, the daughter joined an athletic program and wanted to go on a special diet. She collaborated with her brother about her needs. He gathered the ingredients and cooked it for her, and she worked out the budget for it. This kind of stuff can go beyond just doing chores.