Teenage suicides escalate on northern Ontario reserve

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The chief of this beleaguered community has resigned in the midst of an epidemic of youth suicides.

Chief Gordon Peters said he is frustrated by the lack of government response to the crisis decimating his community, and wants to spend time with his wife and five children.

"When a situation like this occurs in Native communities, the government doesn't move on it. But it if happens in non-Native communities they would have responded immediately," said a bitter Peters. "As a leader of this community, I can't feel anything but responsible for what is happening."

Peters will step down April 15, after 10 months in office.

Suicide attempts by youths on this northern Ontario reserve have skyrocketed, sending older members on a desperate search to find ways of containing the deadly trend.

During a 13-day period 11 teenagers have attempted suicide, two within hours of a peer's funeral. A 17-year-old was found hanged inside his father's shed the last weekend of February, raising the death toll to two teenagers. Several youths have made repeated attempts to kill themselves, keeping community members in a constant state of vigilance.

Peters is frustrated at the lack of response from federal and provincial agencies to the crisis which is throwing the community of approximately 1,600 into despair.

"What does it take to reach government officials, does it take another life for them to realize that there's a crisis in Pikangikum? Or does it take another two or three young fellows to die to get the ball rolling," exclaimed a frustrated Peters.

The 38-year-old chief cannot explain what triggered this rash of suicide attempts.

"I think it's a lack of recreation facilities. The youths, they have absolutely nothing to do with their time," he said.

After the suicide death of a 19-year-old male and attempts by three youths within days of the deaths, crisis intervention workers from First Nations in the area came to Pikangikum Feb. 18. The 18 workers are still in the community but aren't trained to provide the intense counselling and prevention programs needed to stem more suicide attempts, said Peters.

The crisis team is a group of seasoned volunteers who work with Nodin, a health care program run out of the Sioux Lookout Hospital in conjunction with the University of Toronto. The Native-run program is funded through the federal Medical Services Branch.

"We are trying to be as responsive as possible," said Frank McNaulty, regional mental health consultant for the Medical Services branch in Ontario. "We can't do it from the outside, and are working closely with community leaders.

Requests for emergency assistance go through a series of channels before reaching his office. Most common in northern Ontario is for a community mental health worker to apply to the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation mental health services for help "if there is a situation that is deemed to be of concern." The NAN office will then call a Nodin representative, and a team is sent out within a day, said McNaulty.

At the end of February, after the deaths of two teenagers, two suicide prevention and post-vention workers were sent to Pikangikum to help the community. McNaulty, like Peters, is at a loss as to why the deadly attempts continue to plague the reserve, and was unable to answer why the situation has been allowed to escalate to such proportions.

There have been at least 70 suicide attempts among this community's youth since 1992, four of which resulted in death.

The loss of traditional lifestyles resulting in high unemployment and boredom are some factors contributing to a sense of hopelessness among teenagers, said Peters. Crowded housing on the reserve which has a land base of approximately 18 sq. kilometres, is another factor, he said.

Elders in the community are currently meeting to organize some activities to deal with the situation face-to-face with Pikangikum youths. And although the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation youth forum is scheduled to visit the reerve later this month, Peter said the community cannot wait for consultants to come in, then report on what already is a desperate situation.

The forum is holding hearings for youths on reserves in northern Ontario to document their needs and concerns for use in developing programs.