Canadian aboriginal village declares state of emergency over suicide cases

The First Nation of Attawapiskat in Ontario, Canada, has declared a state of emergency over 11 suicide attempts last April 9 (Saturday).

The suicide rate for youth under 15 years in many First Nations, or aboriginal Canadian villages, is 50 times the average suicide rate in the country. Jackie Hookimaw, a resident of First Nation on James Bay, narrated in an interview with The Canadian Press that she witnessed many teenage girls and old men in her village being rushed to the community hospital over drug overdose, which is a way to commit suicide. Her own niece, 13-year-old Sheridan, finished her own life last October due to multiple health conditions and non-stop bullying in school.

Screengrab from Justin Trudeau’s Twitter Account (3)

“There are different layers of grief,” Hookimaw described. “There’s normal grief when somebody dies from illness or old age. And there’s complicated grief, where there’s severe trauma, like when somebody commits suicide.”

Aside from Attawapiskat, other aboriginal First Nations had been scourged by suicide cases for decades.

The village, home to about 2,000 people, desperately needs more mental health resources, according to Hookimaw. Grief counseling jobs were left to untrained specialists, leaving children to deal with their own anxiety struggles. Last March, there were 28 young people who took their own life in Attawapiskat.

After the incident, several mental health nurses and social workers were assigned to Weeneebayko area Health Authority Hospital.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the series of suicide attempts as ‘heartbreaking’. Youth groups from Attawapiskat and nearby communities organized a ‘healing walk’ to create awareness. Gianna Francesca Catolico, INQUIRER.net