Nishnawbe Aski Nation tackles youth suicides

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A northern Ontario tribe is getting $800,000 in government money to deal with a rash of suicide attempts amongst its youth in the last two years.

The Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), which represents 26,000 people in 43 communities in North-western Ontario, received $400,000 from the federal Ministry of Health and Welfare and $400,000 from the province of Ontario to fund a youth forum on suicide.

In the last two years there have been 23 suicides and 143 recorded suicide attempts in the Nishnawbe territory.

Richard Jock, an Assembly of First Nations (AFN) spokesperson, says the Assembly supports the idea of a youth forum.

"Since the youth are largely the ones that are committing suicide, one way of empowering them is to listen to them, to try to come up with solutions from their own lips and from their own minds," says Jock.

Communities in northern Ontario were rocked by a series of youth suicides this year. Eleven people killed themselves during the first four months of 1993, the youngest a 13-year-old girl, the eldest a 33-year-old mother of five. NAN deputy Grand Chief Jim Morris pleaded for extra money to train more suicide prevention and mental health counsellors to deal with the save of suicides.

Northern Ontario communities have the highest rate of suicides in the country, reaching seven times the national average. In an emergency session called by the AFN with the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in April, Morris said the problem of youth suicide was getting worse. On the first day of the two-day conference two young women in Wunnummin Lake hung themselves.

"The two girls who killed themselves - we didn't know they were high-risk at all. It was a surprise for everybody. It shows what we've always suspected: that many of the young people who are having problems are not conveying that information to anybody who can help them," said Morris.

Mental health workers agree that young people are increasingly isolating them- selves from their community, and that part of the reason is the legacy of residential schools. Native children torn from their communities were raised in repressive environ- ments negating their Aboriginal culture and traditions. An entire generation was raised without parenting skills, and they passed their pain on to their children, say local experts.

Another cause for despair among the young is the contrast between the rich lifestyle seen on television and the reality of most reserves stricken with poverty, unemployment, and overcrowding. A worrisome trend is the increase of women committing suicide. As givers of life, and traditionally the backbone of the community, women have been seen as maintaining the flame of hope through hard times. That six out of 11 suicides were committed by NAN women is a strong indication that social and economic problems are increasing the sense of hopelessness among youths.

To combat the tide of deaths, Morris and NAN health director Mae Kitt pitched the idea of a forum to Ontario Minister Ruth Grier on March 2. On March 30 the Ontario government granted $400,000 to the idea, and three days later the federal government followed their lead, contributing the same amount.

The forum will consist of a panel of four Natives, including three youths, who will visit every NAN community during an 18-month period. The purpose is to listen to the concerns of NAN youth in a safe and private environment.

"There are some real concerns around confidentiality and the proper environment so the community can have a real honest look at what the problems are," says Judith Glynn-Williams, an Ontario government spokesperson.

The panel will then document the discussions and, based on those documents, "prepare a report which will identify the needs, concerns and demands," of NAN youth.

"All of the findings will go to the native leadership first, so that they will have an opportunity to prepare their communities before the findings go to the government representatives," ays Glynn-Williams. (With files from Max Paris)