Library and Academic Services: Indigenous Health & Well-Being: Suicide

Suicide

It has been theorized that suicide behaviours amongst Indigenous peoples may be an outcome of mass trauma experienced as a result of colonization. In Canada, qualitative evidence has suggested that the Indian Residential School System set in motion a cycle of trauma, with some survivors reporting subsequent abuse, suicide, and other related behaviours. It has been further postulated that the effects of trauma can also be passed inter-generationally. Today, there are four generations of Canadian First Nations residential school survivors who may have transmitted the trauma they experienced to their own children and grandchildren. The experiences of Indigenous peoples has been ongoing, and always present, making historical trauma a part of a common experience, subtly shaping the lives and futures of individuals, families, and communities.

(Trauma and Suicide Behaviour Histories Among a Canadian Indigenous Population: An Empirical Exploration of the Potential Role of Canada's Residential School System by Brenda Elias)

Websites and Documents

Acting on What We Know: Preventing Youth Suicide in First Nations
Suicide among First Nations youth has been occurring at an alarming rate in recent years. Statistics show an Aboriginal suicide rate two to three times higher than the non-Aboriginal rate for Canada, and within the youth age group the Aboriginal suicide rate is estimated to be five to six times higher than that of non-Aboriginal youth. In July, 2001 a Suicide Prevention Advisory Group was jointly appointed by National Chief Matthew Coon Come of the Assembly of First Nations and former Minister of Health Allan Rock. The purpose of this Advisory Group was to review the existing research and formulate a series of practical, doable recommendations to help stem the tide of youth suicides occurring in First Nations communities across Canada. (Also available in print at NDC E 98 .A35 2003)
Breaking Point: The Suicide Crisis in Indigenous Communities
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs adopted a motion in 2016 to examine and prepare a report on suicide among Indigenous peoples and communities. Over the course of the study, the Committee heard from over 50 Indigenous youth representatives, First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders, leading Indigenous academics and health professional organizations, caregivers such as social workers, health administrators and educators, and mental health advocacy organizations. These witnesses, including many Indigenous youth, shared their difficult personal experiences of suicide, but also expressed hope that through community leadership and resolve, suicide and mental distress can be addressed.
National Aboriginal Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy (NAYSPS)
NAYSPS was developed based on a review of evidence-based suicide prevention approaches and
existing prevention strategies, both nationally and internationally. It was also informed by the Advisory
Group on Suicide Prevention’s final report, Acting on What We Know: Preventing Youth Suicide in First
Nations. The Strategy incorporates the best available evidence with respect to youth suicide prevention
and is focused on finding ways to reduce risk factors and promote protective factors for Aboriginal
youth suicide.
National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy (2016)
Each of the four regions of Inuit Nunangat have called for action to address the elevated rates of suicide among Inuit for decades, yet suicide endures as a leading cause of death among our people, especially young people. The loss of hundreds of Inuit who died by suicide in the past several decades has had a devastating impact on our small population and touches all of us. The elevated rates of suicide in Inuit Nunangat are a public health crisis whose roots we understand and, collectively, have the responsibility and opportunity to change.
Rethinking Indigenous Suicide (2018)
Suicide is one of the most significant issues facing Indigenous communities throughout Canada. The rate of Indigenous deaths by suicide is severely disproportionate to that of the general public. While the last three decades have seen substantial investments in suicidology research within the Canadian context, rates of Indigenous deaths by suicide have remained relatively stable, and little remains known about effective means to reduce Indigenous deaths by suicide. A movement of critical suicidology scholars across health and social sciences is beginning to challenge the mainstream approach of suicidology research and suicide prevention, citing concerns about the ideological and epistemic foundations.
Trauma and Suicide in Indigenous People (Centre for Suicide Prevention)
Trauma is very common among people in Canada, and the Indigenous people in Canada (First Nations, Metis and the Inuit) have nearly 4 times the risk of severe trauma than the non-Indigenous population. Colonialism is responsible for much of the trauma experienced by Indigenous people all over the world.

Library Resources

Critical Suicidology: Transforming Suicide Research and Prevention for the 21st Century by Jennifer White, ed.
Location: HV 6545 .C75 2016 (Located at NDC)
Globally, suicides account for a significant number of premature deaths every year. Traditional approaches to research and prevention are not working for everyone, but why is this? And what can be done about it? In Critical Suicidology, a team of international scholars, practitioners, and people directly affected by suicide argue that mainstream research models obscure the social, political, and historical contexts that contribute to human suffering. Combining personal experience with theoretical insights, this rich volume challenges the current orthodoxy governing suicide prevention in the West. Going beyond critique, it proposes alternative approaches that are creative, socially just, and culturally responsive. This book is a must-read for practitioners, policy makers, and researchers working in mental health services and related disciplines and for anyone who wants to make suicide prevention not simply a goal but an achievement.
The Cross Lake Experiment : Reaching Indigenous Kids. October 2016
Location: Streaming video
Suicide rates among Indigenous youth in Canada, who are five to six times more likely to take their own lives than non-Indigenous teens, are reaching epidemic proportions. The CBC's Nick Purdon follows cultural awareness teacher Kerry Muswagon on a goose hunt with students from Mikisew school in Cross Lake, Manitoba. He believes if he teaches the students about their culture, they'll feel better about themselves.
Dying to Please You: Indigenous Suicide in Contemporary Canada by Roland David Chrisjohn; Shaunessy M. McKay; Andrea O. Smith
Location: E 98 .S9 C57 2017 (Located at NDC)
An in-depth look at the crisis of Indigenous suicide in Canada. It compels us to rethink our definition of suicide and treatment methods, and re-examine the political and primary cause of Indigenous suicide. Written for those who are facing the challenge of unnecessary deaths, of themselves or of others around them, the authors strive to prevent such deaths and for the people involved to reach an understanding of what is really happening. This important book provides the framework of history of, research and theory on, and clear alternatives to Indigenous suicide.
Guided by the Spirits: The Meanings of Life, Death, and Youth Suicide in an Ojibwa Community by Seth Allard
Location: E 99 .C6 A425 2018 (Located at NDC)
Guided by the Spirits is a case study of youth suicide in the Sault Sainte Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Written by a member of the tribal community, this study focuses on qualitative methods, Indigenous experience, and collaborative approaches to explore the social and historical significance of youth suicide in an Ojibwa community. Guided by the Spirits combines traditional methods of analysis, extracts of interviews and field notes, and creative ethnographic writing to present the relationships between culture, history, identity, agency, and youth suicide. This book is a must read for lay readers, policy makers, and researchers who seek a window into contemporary Native American life as well as a critical interpretation of youth suicide in Indigenous societies.
Histories of Suicide: International Perspectives on Self-Destruction in the Modern World by John Weaver; David Wright
Location: Ebook
ISBN: 1442688246
This interdisciplinary collection of essays assembles historians, health economists, anthropologists, and sociologists, who examine the history of suicide from a variety of approaches to provide crucial insight into how suicide differs across nations, cultures, and time periods.
Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death and Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Talaga
Location: E 78 .O5 T35 2017 (Located at NDC)
Over the span of ten years, seven high school students died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The seven were hundreds of miles away from their families, forced to leave their reserve because there was no high school there for them to attend. Award-winning journalist Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this northern city that has come to manifest, and struggle with, human rights violations past and present against Aboriginal communities.
Suicide Is Not the First Nations Way (DVD)
Location: E 98 .S9 S85 2013 (Located at NDC)
Emotional and hard-hitting this documentary/drama explores the dark reaches of suicide in our First Nations communities. Suicide has become a real threat to some of our young people, families and the very substance of our communities. What can we do? This program explores the depths of the problem and offers the very needed solutions that we all need.

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