According to the Canadian Institute of Health Aboriginal Youth are five to six times more likely to commit suicide then non-aboriginal peers. So the Maclean’s article on Bella Bella titled, “The Town that Solved Suicide” is attention getting. Bella Bella was able to give everyone, including the youth of the community, hope. Hope that the future would be brighter and there would be ways individuals could contribute to the community and economically to their families. Lot’s of research has been done on suicide rates in Indigenous Communities, is there research on what communities can do to stop this? Are stories of these successful communities shared online with other communities?
http://www.macleans.ca/news/bella-bella-the-town-that-solved-suicide/
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/suicide-among-indigenous-peoples-in-canada/
Hi Janna,
I too am intrigued by the stats on how indigenous youth are more susceptible to suicides. I came across an article on “The Guardian” newspaper that talks about the Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Manitoba, where 150 youth in the remote community of 6,000 were put on suicide watch. To me that is crazy to know that indigenous males are 10 times more likely to kill themselves than non-indigenous male counterparts, while indigenous females are 21 times more likely than young non-indigenous females. Are there even any resources out there in that town that would help them? Last year, I had an Aboriginal student in my class that fell through the cracks. The administrators and I continually contacted our district person about our growing concerns, yet nothing was ever made of it. I was quite disappointed. Now, he’s in Grade 8 and he’s selling drugs. I can’t help but feel that there was so much more that could’ve been done.
Here is the article I was referring to: https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/aug/30/our-society-is-broken-what-can-stop-canadas-first-nations-suicide-epidemic