There are much higher than average rates of suicide among Canadian Aboriginals. It is sad to hear the statistics behind the research but in my experience it has been an unfortunate reality. I wanted to share an excerpt from The Aboriginal Healing Foundation on how Media can possibly influence suicide rates. As a product of the 90’s I often reflect back to when Kurt Cobain committed suicide and how it influenced so many youth at that time. I think it is important for the media to broadcast less on suicide itself and more on prevention and intervention.

Mass Media Mass media— in the form of television, Internet, magazines, and music— play an important role in the lives of most contemporary young people. Mass media may influence the rate and pattern of suicide in the general population (Pirkis and Blood, 2001; Stack, 2003; 2005). The media representation of suicides may contribute to suicide clusters. Suicide commands public and government attention and is often perceived as a powerful issue to use in political debates. This focus, however, can inadvertently legitimize suicide as a form of political protest and thus increase its prevalence. Research has shown that reports on youth suicide in newspapers or entertainment media have been associated with increased levels of suicidal behaviour among exposed persons (Phillips and Cartensen, 1986; Phillips, Lesyna, and Paight, 1992; Pirkis and Blood, 2001). The intensity of this effect may depend on how strongly vulnerable individuals identify with the suicides portrayed.

There are prevailing attitudes in some segments of society that romanticize suicide as an expression of alienation, social protest, or heartbreak. Mass media sometimes make suicide the topic of sensationalized accounts. For some, Aboriginal suicide has come to represent resistance to the effects of cultural suppression and marginalization, which may inadvertently give it heroic meaning for some youth. Suicide prevention requires strengthening individual and community attitudes that reject suicide as a viable option. Effective problem-solving, community involvement, political activism, and other forms of active engagement in protest and change, all present alternatives to self-destructive despair and powerlessness. In the hands of Aboriginal youth themselves, the media can become tools of empowerment and social change. Copyright © 2007. Aboriginal Healing Foundation. All rights reserved.

Source:

Kirmayer, Laurence J.; Brass, Gregory M.; Holton, Tara. Suicide Among Aboriginal People in Canada.  Ottawa, ON, Canada: Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2007. p 92-93. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ubc/Doc?id=10213044&ppg=112

I had to share this blog post from the the Canadian Education Association (CEA) web site written by James Wilson. It addresses the issues of inequitable student funding for First Nations Communities.  Something that people in Canada don’t realize is that First Nation communities have been dealing with the issue of less funding per student when providing education services in their communities. The article is short and to the point so I wont bother to paraphrase or summarize but the fact is that the Federal Government has yet to live up to the promise of providing First Nations children with the same quality and support for education that we expect in all public schools.

“Three simple pages say it all!  That’s the length, in its entirety, of the sections in the Indian Act that govern education on reserves for First Nations. Contrast this to the over 150 pages of the provincially-controlled Public Schools Act and Education Administration Act in Manitoba. From this perspective alone, is it any wonder that the most pressing social crisis facing our nation today is the inequitable state of education between students in our First Nations communities and those in mainstream Canada?

Where the Indian Act is silent, the Public Schools Act legislates critical issues such as minimum teaching days, board governance, and teacher certification. It also holds government accountable and gives parents guaranteed rights.  Even in its limited capacity, there are no such mechanisms in place for First Nations parents, thus rendering the Indian Act all but irrelevant.

Compounding this problem is a lack of adequate funding for on-reserve schools that receive between $2,000 and $3,000 LESS per student than their provincial counterparts. In some cases, schools in remote communities suffer with $9,000 less per student.  The fall-out includes:

• Higher pupil-teacher ratios;

• Lower pay and less benefits for teachers;

• Limited ability to keep up with curricular advances;

• Lack of ICT advances, and;

• Overcrowded schools.”

The entire article can be read at the link below:

http://www.cea-ace.ca/blog/james-wilson/2011/12/4/indian-act-three-simples-pages-say-it-all

I wanted to share a link to a documentary I watched called I AM.

I Am is a 2010 American documentary film written, narrated, and directed by Tom Shadyac. The documentary explores the nature of mankind and world’s ever-growing addiction to materialism. The film asks two central questions: What’s Wrong With the World? and What Can We Do About it?

The reason I found this film relevant to this course is because in it they discuss the idea behind Aboriginal society and culture understanding that the need for materialism and greed being seen as mental illness. There is one part that discusses the idea of the Native Americans describing the Europeans as “cannibals”  not because the consume the flesh of other humans but because the consume the life and spirit of other humans.  There is an excellent Aboriginal tale and animation in the film that describes what happens to a tribe when one skilled hunter decides not to share equally and keeps all of his food for himself.  Eventually other hunters do the same and eventually the old and the weak start to starve and die off and over time people stop noticing the weak dying. This tale of warning is reflective to how our current society is. We all want more than we need and are unwilling to share because we don’t feel connected to anyone else. Aboriginal culture wasn’t like this prior to contact they understood that community and sharing in wealth was not just the right thing to do but it was a necessity for survival.

The film is available on Netflix and can be watched online here: http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/104294/I_AM__The_Documentary__Part_1_of_3/

Resource

Shadyac, T. (Director). (2011). I am [Documentary]. United States: Shady Acres, Inc.