By Bryan Eneas and Taylor MacPherson

Yearend Coverage: Looking at the roots of Northern Sask’s suicide crisis

Dec 30, 2016 | 5:00 AM

The month of October was cruel to youth in Saskatchewan’s North.

Six girls between the ages of 10 and 15 took their own lives over the span of just a month. Reports surfaced of over 20 more attempts in some communities during the following weeks.

In an act of resilience the communities of Stanley Mission and La Ronge came together to support their young residents during the crisis.

Being at the Senator Allen Bird Memorial Centre when Grand Chief Ron Michel announced the death of a young girl from Deschambault Lake was an eye-opening experience. The mood shift in the building from an election atmosphere to compassion was sudden and completely unexpected.

The emotional announcement was wrapped up with a promise from the Grand Chief of a round table discussion to address the suicide crisis. In December, the Prince Albert Grand Council organized a Medicine Gathering in hopes of finding the systemic causes of the issues plaguing youth around Saskatchewan.

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While it was geared towards youth there wasn’t as much participation as some of the organizers had hoped, but there were a great number of frontline workers present who have an opportunity to make a real difference in their communities.

The emphasis was placed on the ripple effects of colonialism and the legacy it has left on Indigenous peoples. The umbrella of colonialism is far-reaching in Northern Saskatchewan; many people in the region were affected by residential schools for far longer than those in other parts of Canada.

The ripples of colonialism extend far beyond residential schools. Canadians need to consider the lasting impacts of our colonial history, because the experts agreed it is only through decolonization that northern communities will be able to end the wave of youth suicides.

Dr. Rod McCormick, a national-recognized expert on Indigenous mental health and member of the Mohawk Nation (Kanienkahaka), said the suicides were the result of colonialism stripping away the sources of meaning from northern First Nations.

“What colonization was about was disconnecting Indigenous people from all their sources of meaning,” McCormick told paNOW in October. “We really have been disconnected over 150 years from what gives us a strong reason for living.”

McCormick said individuals need to feel empowered and connected in order to find true meaning in their lives. The problem is urgent not just for Saskatchewan, McCormick said, as First Nations suicide rates are more than triple the national average across Canada.

Dr. Carrie Bourassa, chair of Northern and Indigenous Health at Sudbury’s Health Science North Research Institute, said the solutions to the crisis must come from within the affected communities.

“The communities have the answers, I really can’t emphasize that enough,” she said. “But resources are another issue, and that’s where governments really need to step up.”

Psychologist Dr. Lloyd Robertson, who has been practicing in La Ronge for 25 years, reinforced the need for internal solutions to the crisis.

“All the outsiders in the world aren’t going to fix the problem,” he said. “It’s got to be a community response as well.”

Especially important, Robertson said, is the support of adult and elder voices.

“Youth need a connection with other generations,” he said. “Where there’s not sufficient communication that connection is lost, and the youth are left looking to each other for wisdom they don’t have.”

In the wake of the tragedy, the media turned to provincial and federal leaders for comment.

At the height of the suicide crisis, Premier Brad Wall’s social media pages gave much commentary on denouncing the carbon tax. Wall paid a visit to La Ronge in early November to meet with local leaders but not much else has been announced by the province in the way of mental health supports.

Member of Parliament Georgina Jolibois called on Justin Trudeau to tour the affected communities but the visit has yet to happen.
 

news@panow.com