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[Walpurgis]

A remote Manitoba First Nation declared a state of emergency Wednesday after six suicides in the last two months and 140 attempts in the last two weeks alone. Officials from the Pimicikamak Cree Nation, known as Cross Lake, say health workers on the northern reserve can no longer cope. Band councillor Donnie McKay said the nursing station is only staffed by two nurses overnight.

"They're going 24 hours and they're ready to drop."

The community of 8,300 is traumatized and needs immediate help from the provincial and federal governments, McKay said. A meeting with Manitoba Health Minister Sharon Blady last month resulted in one mental-health worker being sent to the community for an eight-hour shift, he said.

[...] Acting Chief Shirley Robinson said the reserve -- about 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg near a Manitoba Hydro generating station -- has an 80 per cent unemployment rate. Frustrated residents occupied the generating station in 2013. They said their traditional lands are regularly transformed into a floodway and none of the promised economic development and employment programs has materialized. Premier Greg Selinger personally apologized a year ago for the damage caused by the hydro development to Cross Lake's traditional land, way of life and cultural identity. After that apology, Robinson said there was a sense of hope, but that quickly vanished.

"There is lots of despair."

Robinson's 33-year-old cousin, a mother of three, was the sixth person last weekend alone to commit suicide. The community has been drawing on every resource it can to save lives, said Robinson.

"We've been using clergy. We've been using our local elders. We've been using our local nurses and doctors," she said. "It's been very difficult for everyone."

"[...] The band is asking for at least six mental-health workers immediately, as well as for a child psychologist and family therapist. Council is also calling for after-hours counsellors and physicians. In the long term, the reserve is asking for a hospital and recreational facilities for its youth. Shirley Robinson said, with every minute that passes, people are worried about losing another loved one. There were two suicide attempts Tuesday, she said.

"It seems like we're (keeping) a watchful eye -- every minute, every hour. We don't want this to happen anymore. The whole community is in grief."

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/manito...-of-emergency-over-suicide-epidemic-1.2810573

One of the reasons why it's gotten so bad is because of how sad people have become due to the people around them committing suicide.

Theodra Thomas shared her experience with suicide. She was close with the teenage boy who killed himself this year. She said she is now getting home schooled because she can't bear being in class without him.

"I seen him the day he killed himself. He came to me and gave me a big hug. That was the last time I seen him," said the 18-year-old.

Thomas said she tried to kill herself twice in February.

"I texted everyone on my contact list and told everyone I love them." She said her friend called the RCMP, who showed up at her house just in time.

"I thought if I killed myself, will I feel this way still? Will I feel it over there wherever I go?" she said.
"It was scary, it just seemed like suicide was the answer. But it wasn't."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/pimicikamak-youth-fundraise-for-suicide-prevention-1.3487672

I think that the root cause is PTSD from residential schools and colonisation. Manitoba's premier has promised help from additional support workers for 8 weeks at the most.

 

[How About No]

One of the reasons why it's gotten so bad is because of how sad people have become due to the people around them committing suicide.

Jesus christ. Just a domino effect of despair. If you're feeling this way, that's one good reason to hold on

 

[Savitar]

This is pretty horrendous.

They need hope for a better future and they need change now.

 

[hupla]

I continue to be profoundly disappointed with Canadas treatment of first nations people, this is horrible

 

[Rbk_3]

That is horrible.

Is the success rate normally that low? 6 of 140 attempts seems low but I have nothing to base that on.

 

[Walpurgis]

Cross Lake is the location of a residential school that was closed just under 50 years ago. Residential schools are boarding schools that kidnapped indigenous children were forced into. In these schools, children were forbidden from practising their religion and culture, and speaking their native tongue. They were also mentally tortured, molested and sometimes killed.

Many of the older adults older were put through these schools and came out with PTSD, drug addictions, and no identity (and were typically raised by parents who went through the same since the program started more than a century before). Many former "students" that had children would then pass the trauma to the next generation by abusing and neglecting them, and many of those children would grow up to do the same, continuing the cycle. This has led to poverty, drug use, crime, mental illness and suicide.

I don't know the specific story at this reserve but this is basically how it is across the country.

 

[echoshifting]

140 attempts in two weeks?! Absolutely soul-crushing.

 

[TimeEffect]

What are the next steps here?

 

[Walpurgis]

140 attempts in two weeks?! Absolutely soul-crushing.

Especially with such a small population. Some articles have it at 5,800.

 

[Prax]

That is.. a mess. I really hope they can get help up there to avert the crisis soon.
But undoing all the damage and actually healing is probably decades worth of work from everyone.

 

[Syf]

I continue to be profoundly disappointed with Canadas treatment of first nations people, this is horrible

Yep, as a Canadian I'm happy with our progress on a lot of issues but the conditions for these people continue to be shameful.

140 attempts in two weeks?! Absolutely soul-crushing.

And that in a tiny community.

 

[RC]

What are the next steps here?

Taking a step would be helpful.

We've ignored the plight of reserves for decades. It's shameful.

 

[Zekes!]

Our continued treatment and lack of support for our Indigenous peoples is why I get so annoyed when we as a country celebrate the idea that we have some of the best standards of living in the world.

 

[Walpurgis]

What are the next steps here?

First, they need psychologists and therapists for the crisis. Next, they need stuff for people to do in the long-term. 80% unemployment in an isolated community is absurd, especially with such a tragic history. It's recipe for disaster.

 

[Walpurgis]

Our continued treatment and lack of support for our Indigenous peoples is why I get so annoyed when we as a country celebrate the idea that we have some of the best standards of living in the world.

It's easy to forget that there are Canadians living in this country in 3rd world conditions. 100 years ago, Winnipeg dug a canal to construct a water intake in a reserve called Shoal Lake. This cut off the people living there from the rest of the country - from then on, they lived on an island and provided Winnipeg with all of its drinking water. For the past 15 years, the people of Shoal Lake have been living under a boil water advisory.

To make matters worse, even after 100 years, Shoal Lake remains an island. For decades, Winnipeg struck down all attempts to have a bridge built to reconnect Shoal Lake to the rest of the country, fearing development would threaten its water supply. To get in and out of Shoal Lake today, you must either drive on ice in the winter or travel by boat in the summer. 9 people have been killed crossing the ice in the winter in these past 15 years.

 

[TimeEffect]

First, they need psychologists and therapists for the crisis. Next, they need stuff for people to do in the long-term. 80% unemployment in an isolated community is absurd, especially with such a tragic history. It's recipe for disaster.

How are they isolated? Is their economy/way of life radically different? What do the 20% of employed do/work in?

 

[Walpurgis]

How are they isolated? Is their economy/way of life radically different? What do the 20% of employed do/work in?

It's hard to find a legible map that includes Cross Lake so I went on Google Maps.

Starting Point: Winnipeg
Destination: Cross Lake

The closest other bit of civilisation is Thompson, population 13k, and one of the most dangerous cities in the country.

I don't know what the 20% workers do.

 

[SRG01]

To put this into terms that more people can understand, infrastructure outside of Canadian cities is extremely lacking, both as a product of low population density and lack of funding.

The other consideration is that the majority of these reserves do not receive nearly enough funding for schools, housing, infrastructure and personnel. People like to quote the multi-million dollar funding per reserve like it's a huge amount, but the cost of everything goes up outside major cities.

Unfortunately, the real problem that won't get addressed anytime soon is the Indian Act, as many of today's aboriginal issues are directly caused by it. Perhaps we'll get a new Kelowna Accord going, but that remains to be seen.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Fucking terrible.

 

[killer rin]

I continue to be profoundly disappointed with Canadas treatment of first nations people, this is horrible

As a Canadian myself it really is shameful that we haven't done shit in this regards. These people should be living at the same standard the majority of our rural population lives in, no exception. Thankfully though one of the things Trudeau got elected on was actually doing something about this, so hopefully he can get something done... and then the person who eventually succeeds him can continue it until the issues are all solved

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

That is sad to hear. I didn't know this was happening.

 

[TwEE-N-Toast]

They need hope for a better future and they need change now.

I continue to be profoundly disappointed with Canadas treatment of first nations people, this is horrible

What do you guys suggest?

 

[Silver Arrows]

For as rosy as the outlook people like to paint Justin Trudeau's government, chances are he too will perpetuate the cycle of suffering First Nations people have endured for generations now, like every other PM in power.

 

[DJ_Lae]

Yeah, it's a sad situation and not particularly simple to rectify.

We have similar issues here in Alberta with some of the more remote bands (plus more remote, smaller non-native communities) and access to health and mental care. That is, there's very little, mostly due to how remote they are. And with budget freezes and cuts at the moment there is even less chance any of those services will be expanded on - they are needed but at the same time I understand why they're often overlooked as the cost per person can be incredibly high.

Still, something needs to be done.

 

[SRG01]

For as rosy as the outlook people like to paint Justin Trudeau's government, chances are he too will perpetuate the cycle of suffering First Nations people have endured for generations now, like every other PM in power.

He most definitely won't. He has a lot of close interactions with First Nations and even has a Haida tattoo (also an honorary member of the Haida tribe).

 

[The Wall]

Our continued treatment and lack of support for our Indigenous peoples is why I get so annoyed when we as a country celebrate the idea that we have some of the best standards of living in the world.

It particularly pisses me off when I realize how gung-ho our military is to get involved in foreign conflicts because personnel want the vanity feels of being sent overseas, while ignoring the literal third-world crisis in our very "backyards" because it makes them uncomfortable or their isn't enough "glory" in it for them.

Don't get me started on the disgusting attitudes held by some of our government "employees". Like making fun of a mildly disabled women in her workplace, within earshot of her, when she was announcing something over the speaker system in a store. And making a point of gloating how he didn't understand why he couldn't find a woman who believed in "what he stood for". I might vomit.

One problem I will say that exists with the reserve systems are, in my opinion, that they exists so separately and amongst themselves that it makes them too separate from the working, established systems that work in "normal" cities. It seems kind of lose-lose, because in order to respect their rights to land and traditional lifestyles, they also become so insular that it becomes difficult for anyone to meaningfully help them either. All it takes is a bit of corruption at the top of those communities for help, money and resources to not find it's way down to where it needs to be.

Mind you, people born and raised in some of those situations too can become their own worst enemies because they don't know anything else, and the problem continues.

 

[Silver Arrows]

It particularly pisses me off when I realize how gung-ho our military is to get involved in foreign conflicts because personnel want the "vanity feels" of being sent overseas, while ignoring the literal third-world crisis in our very "backyards" because I makes them "uncomfortable" or their isn't enough "glory" in it for them.

Don't get me started on the disgusting attitudes held by some of our government "employees". Like making fun of a mildly disabled women in her workplace, within earshot of her, when she was announcing something over the speaker system in a store. I might vomit.

Or the very much accepted by the common Canadian's racism against First Nations peoples.

For as much as people love to slobber over Canada for it's acceptance of other peoples...that acceptance is not extended to Aboriginal peoples.

 

[The Wall]

Or the very much accepted by the common Canadian's racism against First Nations peoples.

For as much as people love to slobber over Canada for it's acceptance of other peoples...that acceptance is not extended to Aboriginal peoples.

I've recently seen just how bad of a problem it is, and how intentionally hidden it is.

 

[Tesseract]

What a tragedy, this should go to the very top of shit to do as a leader immediately

What the fuck, man

 

[Ashes]

Normally, I would say they need to draft someone in to media train them on how to report suicides so as to reduce the copycat suicides/attempt. But I am at loss as to how to go about doing this in such a small populace.

 

[Horsemama1956]

He most definitely won't. He has a lot of close interactions with First Nations and even has a Haida tattoo (also an honorary member of the Haida tribe).

Not much he can do unless Chiefs let the various Governments handle the assistance themselves. Outside of direct payments to people the money will never get to people living on the reserves.

 

[Bleepey]

Was something slipped in the water or something. I am not joking was the suicide attempt rate always this high?

 

[Walpurgis]

Not much he can do unless Chiefs let the various Governments handle the assistance themselves. Outside of direct payments to people the money will never get to people living on the reserves.

While there have been cases of corruption on reserves in the past, that doesn't seem to be a factor at Cross Lake.

Was something slipped in the water or something. I am not joking was the suicide attempt rate always this high?

It really is unfathomable. I'm not sure what triggered it, to be honest. Reserves have always had higher suicide rates than the rest of Canada. I don't know how Cross Lake specifically got to this point though, even taking the domino effect of suicides into account. I read in another article that this started within the last few months.

edit:

"We're trying to carry on as much as usual. It's not that easy," said principal Gordon Hum.

"I've been in schools before and if I had one suicide a year.… We can deal with it and move on. But when you have five back-to-back in such a short period of time, it's difficult to move quickly to heal."

[...] Hum said the school was not in a crisis state like this when he arrived five months ago. He doesn't know what set the suicides off but it likely has to do with family issues, he said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/cross-lake-pimicikamak-principal-1.3486718

 

[obin_gam]

Whats a "first nation"?

 

[Layell]

Whats a "first nation"?

Aboriginal, Indigenous Person, American Indian

some areas prefer different terms

 

[Zekes!]

Whats a "first nation"?

It's one of three designations for Canada's Indigenous peoples; the others being Inuit and Metis