About UsOur organization was started to promote awareness of the mass suicides ongoing within the Aboriginal communities. In a 2002/03 survey it was noted that 70% of Aboriginals face suicidal thoughts while living on their reserves. Only 17% of Aboriginals seek professional help to treat their mental illness. This number would be significantly higher if professionals were available in their isolated areas. In spite of this, there are serious concerns about mental illness and social ills such as substance abuse, addiction, suicide and violence among Aboriginal people and communities. Our goal is to get the governments attention and have them send help to the communities in need. This includes a plan for a hospital and recreational facilities to be built. As well as at least six mental-health workers, a child psychologist, and a family therapist.
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Who We Are |
We are a set of students that attend St. Augustine secondary school. Together we share a common goal to lower the amount of attempted and successful suicides that occur within Aboriginal communities.
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What You Need To Know |
The loss of human life through suicide is a tragic reality in First Nations and Inuit communities. These two communities experience a much higher suicide rate than the Canadian population as a whole. Suicide rates among Inuit are shockingly high at six to eleven times the Canadian average. In Nunavut in particular, 27% of all deaths since 1999 have been suicides. This is one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and it continues to rise, especially among youth. For the First Nations population, suicide rates are twice the national average and show no signs of decreasing. Surveys show that 19% of females attempt suicide in the Aboriginal communities while males sit at 13%.
To reduce the risk of suicide, it is fundamental to make multi-level changes to longstanding systems that support and define Aboriginal youth, families and communities in crisis; there must be a focus on healing movements and everyday forms of health and healing in Aboriginal communities. It is fundamental to focus on improving Aboriginal youth’s outlook and quality of life, and this requires the involvement of family, friends, and the entire community. This organization was motivated after 11 teenagers attempted suicide, the community of Attawapiskat, one of 634 aboriginal Canadian communities known as First Nations, declared a state of emergency. Since September, over 100 suicide attempts have been recorded in this small community of approximately 2,000. Throughout the month of March alone, Attawapiskat saw 28 suicide attempts, an average of about one per day.Factors that have contributed to this epidemic include severe overcrowding, lack of access to education, and widespread trauma caused by residential schools and Indian reservations. Between 1878 and 1996, more than 150,000 First Nations children were taken to institutions that sought to alienate them from their cultures. Horrific forms of abuse that occurred at these schools and reserves have had a lasting impact across generations of survivors and their children |