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Native American Studies

University of California, Davis

Page 4

Native American Studies

University of California, Davis

By

Roxanne Rich has been a community services worker in Sheshatshiu, a community of 1,200 Innu, for almost seven years. She is well acquainted with her community?s gas-sniffing problem. That and associated social problems consume most of her time, as Rich encourages people who need to talk to contact her at home. Two weeks before Christmas she was in the office alone; one co-worker was absent for medical reasons and another was on holiday.

She stays with the job at Child, Youth and Family Services because she cares about the people of Sheshatshiu.

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The millions of dollars expended by government sources for social programs in First Nations will only continue to be ineffective, wasteful Band-Aid solutions unless the political issue of sovereignty is sorted out, but both sides are unwilling to budge.

So say most Indigenous leaders and many academic observers who have studied and, in many cases agonized over, the persistent social problems that haunt First Nation communities.

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The millions of dollars expended by government sources for social programs in First Nations will only continue to be ineffective, wasteful Band-Aid solutions unless the political issue of sovereignty is sorted out, but both sides are unwilling to budge.

So say most Indigenous leaders and many academic observers who have studied and, in many cases agonized over, the persistent social problems that haunt First Nation communities.

Page 2

Hot on the heels of a plea from Labrador Innu leaders for outside help in saving young people addicted to gasoline sniffing in their communities, several remote First Nations in various parts of the country are coping with another rash of destructive behavior as young people take their own lives in numbers that are unmatched anywhere in the world.

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Hot on the heels of a plea from Labrador Innu leaders for outside help in saving young people addicted to gasoline sniffing in their communities, several remote First Nations in various parts of the country are coping with another rash of destructive behavior as young people take their own lives in numbers that are unmatched anywhere in the world.

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From coloring books discouraging children from sniffing solvents to videos geared to the prevention of suicide and drug and alcohol addictions, the number of resources available to First Nations and Inuit communities to help combat social programs is staggering.

Reference materials available through First Nations and Inuit Health Programs (FNIHP) are distributed through a clearing house established in 1991 to help get the information out.

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From coloring books discouraging children from sniffing solvents to videos geared to the prevention of suicide and drug and alcohol addictions, the number of resources available to First Nations and Inuit communities to help combat social programs is staggering.

Reference materials available through First Nations and Inuit Health Programs (FNIHP) are distributed through a clearing house established in 1991 to help get the information out.

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Young Indigenous people in Canada are choosing suicide in numbers that have never been exceeded anywhere, at any time, in recorded history.

As federal and provincial officials, First Nation and Innu leaders, care providers and others bicker back and forth about money and political considerations, the casualty list grows daily.

And the suicide numbers only tell part of the story. For every person who succeeds in taking his or her own life, there are many others, equally dispirited, who make unsuccessful attempts.