The document describes culturally relevant resources to plan and engage in suicide prevention programs, discusses safe messaging and social marketing, and illustrates suicide prevention materials from 19 American Indian communities in 11 states. An appendix provides American Indian and Alaska Native sources for materials on topics related to suicide, such as mental health, addiction, and depression. Although the title indicates this is for Californians, it is relevant for all parts of the nation.

This tooklit covers understanding and integrating cultural identity, increasing youth engagement,  establishing partnerships, and evaluation when developing programs for youth violence prevention. While it focuses on aboriginal populations in Canada, much of the content also applies to youth empowerment initiatives with Native youth in the United States.