First Nations youth speak out about suicide

Suicide amongst Aboriginal youth in Canada has been called an epidemic. The rates vary among First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities but no matter which community you look at, the rates are higher than those in non-Aboriginal populations.

The loss of young people is devastating to many smaller communities, which sometimes experience suicide “clusters” where one youth commits suicide and then others copy them. Many community leaders are now taking action to try and prevent suicide rates from increasing.

It is clear that suicide happens because of a variety of factors, such as socio-economic issues, loss of culture, and life situation. The National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) is working with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) to help youth identify these factors and empower themselves to  develop strategies for combating suicide amongst Aboriginal youth.

More than 30 First Nations youth from across Canada were invited to discuss suicide at the National First Nations Youth Suicide Prevention Forum held in Alliston, Ont. from March 22 to 25. The youth had to work in the health sector, write a short essay on their feelings about suicide, and provide two letters of recommendation in order to be accepted for the forum.

The forum focused on giving the youth a chance to express their views. Staff at NAHO and the AFN recognized that many conferences don’t give youth the chance to share their knowledge.

“First Nations youth had the opportunity to gather in a safe environment, enabling them to discuss and share their stories in relation to suicide,” said Sonia Isaac-Mann, director of the First Nations Centre at NAHO.
“This event was a milestone for the youth who attended in that, for some, it was their first opportunity to openly speak about suicide.”

Anne Huntinghawk is an Ojibway woman from Long Plain First Nation in Manitoba. Apprehended from her birth parents at the age of eight, she survived teenage depression and a suicide attempt at age 14.

Huntinghawk said she was able to survive because she was able to find someone trustworthy to talk with about her problems.

“You feel like you have nowhere else to go. You have no other solution but that,” she said about suicide. “I don’t think there’s anywhere youth can go for support in Aboriginal communities. They can’t even go to their own families because their families are busy with their own problems. It’s generational. It’s the effects of colonization. Families don’t know how to nurture themselves so they don’t know how to nurture each other.”

The forum helped instill pride in culture and in the youths’ identity as First Nations people through talking circles, traditional teachings on the gift of life from Elders Lillian Pitawanakwat and Alex Jacobs, presentations and training in SafeTALK suicide alertness. The traditional teachings are particularly important in addressing suicide since many youth have not received the teachings in their own families.

Youth watched the Mothers of Our Nations documentary and took part in presentations on various programs for preventing suicide.

 One highlight was guest speaker Gino Odjick. The former NHL hockey player is known as the Algonquin Enforcer. He delivered an emotional presentation about his involvement with preventing suicide across Canada.
Recommendations from the forum are being forwarded to the AFN’s Health and Social Development Secretariat and National Youth Council for action and implementation. Youth strongly identified the need for a second forum to further the discussions initiated and present recommendations to leaders.

“We are taking the recommendations from this forum seriously and are working on securing funding for a second forum. Each and every youth who attended this forum deserves recognition for their bravery and courage. I am very proud of all of them and I look forward to seeing them again,” said Isaac-Mann.

“The participants experienced a breakthrough at the forum in that they were finally able to face some of their issues. For others, it gave them the confidence to go back to their communities and address the problem of suicide.”

Huntinghawk is now working to become a social worker so she can bring hope to other Aboriginal youth. For those experiencing depression or thinking about suicide, she said, “Tell someone. Tell someone who you feel will listen and someone who you trust. You can go to your teacher or a school counsellor.”