Whilst the First Nations are so on my heart, here is an essay I wrote last semester for my class Introduction to Aboriginal Societies and Cultures:
‘It
is easier to leave this world than live in it.’
Working towards a healing of First Nation communities
blighted by suicide.
At the Annual General
Assembly of First Nations in 2009, Resolution 30 made for distressing reading:
‘First Nations youth suicide accounts for 38 per cent of all deaths between the
ages of 10-19, and, the suicide rate of First Nations youth in Canada is six to
seven times the rate of mainstream youth, which in turn, is the highest rate of
any group in mainstream society.[1]
In the decades since the exposure and subsequent closure of compulsory and
abusive Indian Residential Schools, incidents of mental health problems in
First Nations communities have become endemic, with suicide occurring more and
more frequently, and now being cited as one of the main causes of death among
young First Nations members. Unfortunately, it is not at all surprising that,
of all groups in Canada, it this group which is so tremendously affected;
‘Aboriginal peoples in Canada have faced cultural oppression and social marginalization
through the actions of European colonizers and their institutions since the
earliest periods of contact.’[2]
As a consequence of the recent increase of suicide clusters occurring in First
Nations groups across Canada, how to address the issue and pull Aboriginal
peoples with mental health issues back from the brink of suicide has become of
the utmost importance. What is readily apparent from everyone involved in
working towards a resolution to the issue of suicide in First Nations communities
is that healing and restoration is ultimately found at the heart of the
cultures desecrated by oppressive outsiders through the centuries. The problem
is that there is not enough time to re-build First Nations culture as it has
taken to keep it oppressed. Through the story of one community, Pikangikum, the
contributing factors towards suicide are laid bare, ready to be addressed to
restore a community destroyed by suicide.
There are
several key areas of social problems within First Nations groups which have
been major contributing factors to mental health problems and suicide. The
undeniable link between substance abuse, both of alcohol and solvents such as
gas and glue, is prevalent in the Chief Coroner’s death review of the youth
suicides at the Pikangikum First Nation, 2006-2008. The ‘Pikangikum First
Nation is a remote community approximately 100 kilometres north of Red Lake;’[3]
of the sixteen suicides in this two year period, ‘almost all of the children
were solvent abusers’[4]
and some of the children, who were as young as 12, were found to be intoxicated
upon their deaths. However, the most distressing part of the Coroner’s report
was the remark that the community at Pikangikum ‘had been desensitized to
parasuicidal behaviour, due to its frequency.’[5]
In other words, the marks of social depravation, such as solvent abuse and
suicide, had become the norm. The question, then, is how to address the issue
of solvent abuse. One ‘study examining Aboriginal drug and alcohol counselling,
suggested a culturally sensitive counselling framework for Aboriginal people
included the theme of the importance of personal and cultural identity.’[6]
The implication from this study is that from the generation of Residential
Schooled First Nations onwards, there is a sense of cultural and identity
“no-man’s-land”; caught in a schism of quasi-Catholicism and
pseudo-Aboriginality, ‘cultureless individuals…who have failed to make a
successful transition from one culture to the next and who have become trapped
in a culturally marginal position that leaves them…without a functioning
cultural referent.’[7] But
through ‘retraditionalization’, a ‘movement toward reconnecting with cultural
beliefs, tradition, and ceremony as a way to overcome problems’[8]
there is a way of working towards First Nations communities where sixteen
suicides in two years are banished.
A great deal
of importance is being placed upon traditional Aboriginal stories and
storytelling as a way of re-establishing Aboriginal cultural identity. In the
2010 Centre for Suicide Prevention annual report, Casey Eagle Speaker, a
Blackfoot Elder suggests the story of Andek
the Crow is a perfect example of Aboriginal teaching which helps restore
the sense of identity missing in the young people driven to suicide in First
Nations communities. The story goes that ‘Andek, The Crow, was without
purpose…Andek, however, found good purpose in helping others to either find or
renew their purpose…making friends with all creation by helping them find the
right path.’[9]
Such a story carries with it strong teaching about identity and purpose in life,
two things which were found to be lacking in the lives of the sixteen youths
from Pikangikum. As Casey Eagle Speaker affirms, ‘the Elders tell us that the
Teaching Stories have within them all that we need to know. So, we share …a
story that can become an important protective factor for a youth going through
a time of uncertainty and doubt.’[10]
A return to traditional Aboriginal Elder-led teaching is emphasized by Elder
Morley Beardy of the Wapekeka First Nation whose daughter committed suicide.
Beardy ‘looks to the past and how he was raised. He remembers teachings from
his mother when he was a young boy growing up in Big Trout
Lake…”chi-mendaamook” which is to…respect people, to respect animals, to
respect everything that I see around me…now it’s almost as if those teachings
don’t matter anymore. If we don’t pass those teachings on, what are we saying
to our young people?’[11]
Through narrative approaches derived from traditional Aboriginal oral
traditions and practices, they may be a ‘particularly useful means to teach
about the culture and to offer counsel about traumatic life events.’[12]
One of the
stand out comments from the Chief Coroner on the Pikangikum case is that
‘grandparents had a significant stabilizing influence in [the young people who
committed suicide] lives.’[13]
In the case of Janice (a pseudonym), she lived with her grandmother after being
taken away from her parents who were abusers of alcohol, although Janice was
also ‘removed from the community before beating up her grandmother’[14]
later returning before committing suicide. It is easy to infer the reasons
behind so many stories of suicide at-risk young people being placed in the care
of their grandparents, and two reasons in particular stand out. Firstly, the
roots of much of the abuse ‘which has devastated families in the [First
Nations] community is an insidious legacy of the residential school’[15]
and how it has destroyed the parenting skills of those affected, means that
‘for those generations that missed learning [parenting skills] naturally in
their home environment by being sent away to Indian residential schools’[16]
the absence of parenting skills ‘is now being felt by their offspring as they
in turn become parents.’[17]
In the grandparents’ generation, however, the roots of traditional Aboriginal
parenting still remain, hence why, in the case of Pikangikum at the very least,
the grandparents were the most stable source in the lives of the disaffected
youth. But, with each passing day, these roots become less sturdy as time,
inevitably, begins to take away that generation.
The second
key reason for placing the young people in the care of grandparents is probably
borne out of the matricentrism of traditional Aboriginal culture. Moreover, in
traditional Native societies, the relationship between the young and the old is
seen as, arguably, the most important. In circular living and thinking, as
Sioui expounds, there are ‘four ages of human life: childhood, adulthood, old
age, then childhood again.’[18]
As a result, the old, or the Elders are next to the young, and such an intimate
connection is why the old are responsible for the teaching of the young, they
are next to each other in the sacred circle of life. Thus, in a community in
turmoil, such as Pikangikum, it is looking to the past that will enable
restoration and healing to be enacted in the present. In the state of distress
to which suicide is a response, a return to matricentric, Elder-focused
authority and community teaching is of the utmost importance for rescuing the
young people at risk. Fundamentally, the healing of mental illness and suicidal
ideation in First Nations communities is to be found in community action, a
tangible embodiment of the sacred circle and traditional Aboriginal interconnectedness.
A rejuvenation of Aboriginal community is required, and has proven invaluable
with regards to lowering youth suicide rates within communities.
The power for
restoration lies in the appropriation of colonial history and exposing its lies
as the communities who have ‘transcended the ravages of their history by
actively reclaiming rights to their land, achieving autonomy to self-govern,
and reviving their culture’[19]
have achieved. It is through these efforts that some communities have been
‘able to re-establish a sense of cultural continuity and ultimately protect
their youth from suicide.’[20]
Mental health issues invariably have environmental factors; but, for First Nations
communities, these factors have historical roots reaching back hundreds of
years to colonial imposition. Such a history ‘has had a complex effect on the
structure of communities, individual and collective identity, and mental
health…the elevated rates of suicide, alcoholism, and domestic violence and the
pervasive demoralization seen in many Aboriginal communities can be readily understood
as both direct and indirect consequences off this history of colonization,
cultural oppression, loss of autonomy, dislocations and disruptions of
traditional life-ways, and disconnection from the land.’[21]
There are three implications from this; firstly, the aforementioned importance
of an Aboriginal community revival; secondly, an acknowledgment of culpability
on the part of non-First Nations in Canada in the form of funding and
land-return; and thirdly, a re-connection with the land.
The
relationship between First Nations and the land is of profound importance; ‘all
Amerindians refer to the earth as their mother, composed like them of body,
mind, and spirit’[22]
and land is therefore not inconsequential or irrelevant but inherently crucial
to Aboriginal living and thinking. In the annexing of Amerindians onto reserves
and ruthless appropriation of land by colonial powers through illegal treaties,
the original inhabitants of Canada have almost become refugees, unable to be either
legally or ethnically “Indian” or “Canadian”. In a study from Alberta examining
Aboriginal approaches to counselling, it described ‘the profession of
counselling [as] ancient because Aboriginal people have sought out guidance and
“counselling” from expert helpers in their communities and on their lands for a
long, long time.’[23]
Not only is this further proof of the importance of community involvement in
tackling suicide in First Nations groups, but it also attributes Aboriginal
land as being crucial because of the connotations of land with balance. The
report explains, ‘the Aboriginal medicine wheel is perhaps the best
representation of an Aboriginal worldview related to healing…[it] describes the
separate dimensions of the self – mental, physical, emotional, and
spiritual…the individual’s connection to the world outside the self plays a
significant role in Aboriginal healing.’[24]
With regards
to the “living” nature of the land, there is an association of the land with
the Spirit or the Great Mystery in traditional Aboriginal thinking and ‘for
Aboriginal peoples, the Spirit plays as large a role in sickness and wellness
as do the functioning of mind and body.’[25]
It is this importance of the connection with nature – again, linked with the
sacred circle – that has seen much healing in Aboriginal communities when used
to tackle mental health and suicidality in especially its youth. For ‘nature,
in the sense of the natural world outside cities and human habitations, is an
important source of healing for many Aboriginal peoples.’[26]
This ultimately places an onus upon non-Aboriginals and the Canadian Government
to abolish the abhorrent situation of reservations and return land not to its
owners per se, but its appreciators,
the First Nations. Traditional First Nation appreciation and reverence and
respect for nature has, in some cases, had a life-saving effect. A young
Aboriginal from Alberta stated, ‘learning to open up my heart to nature helped
[with depression and suicide ideation]. The Elders have a name for that in my
language – kan dalfta. This means
heart opened up.’[27]
Such a
reconnection with the land could be miraculous for the community of Pikangikum
whose living conditions are. to put it crudely, squalid. There are frequent
problems with the water being potable or not, the community is bypassed by the
sources of hydro and electricity to other “Canadian” communities and it ‘is an
impoverished, isolated First Nations community where basic necessities of life
are absent’[28]
where ‘suicide comes to be a viable alternative when there seems to be no hope
of finding help or relief form an unending cycle of poverty and abuse.’[29]
A life characterized by abject poverty serves as a catalyst for mental health
issues. The absence of any decent infrastructure, health care system or
adequate education system has only served to exacerbate the feelings of
depression and hopelessness which led to sixteen young people taking their own
lives, more than one of them after one or more attempts, and with the majority
of them having experienced the death by suicide of a family member of close
friend. One of the ironies of colonialism and the way it has been justified is
in the way it was supposedly perpetrated to “civilize” the indigenous peoples
the missionaries encountered. However, whilst arguing that modern
infrastructure is a mark of civilization (by colonial standards), colonialism
has denied this infrastructure to First Nations through the quasi-internment of
Aboriginal peoples on reserves. Pikangikum is one example of this; another,
unique example is Akwesasne. Crossing the Ontario-Quebec-New York State border,
many of the houses are in varying states of dilapidation; HIV-AIDS is an
increasing problem; addiction to gambling and solvents is equally as prevalent
as in other communities; and its unique location means it endures a constant
reminder of the brutality of colonialism. By the time a child from Akwesasne is
five years old, they will have done more international travel than the average
Canadian will do in their entire life. Ambulances need Border Control’s
permission to travel down the road if it crosses the US-Canadian border and the
added difficulty of this situation for everyday life means it is tragically
unsurprising that mental illness and suicide is a worrying trend in Akwesasne. For
the people of Akwesasne, the disregard for their land by colonial powers has
become, quite literally, a matter of life and death. It can only be resolved by
returning the land to the First Nations people.
Related to
the return of land in helping address some of the catalysts for youth suicide
in Aboriginal communities is the return to the practice of traditional
ceremonies. There is a growing feeling that ‘spiritual therapeutics (such as
sweat lodges, pipe ceremonies and other specific herbal or spiritual
treatments) [should be] incorporated into the standard care of Aboriginal
people’[30]
dealing with mental health issues. A return to the practice of native
spirituality is not only of benefit to restoring a sense of cultural identity
for the “cultureless,” but also ‘is viewed as an essential part of the
recuperative process and, [for Aboriginals] replaces the imposed, organized
religions brought by missionaries, which is more closely associated with the
annihilation of indigenous spiritual belief and practice.’[31]
A return to Native spirituality when addressing mental health issues is a
return to balance and cultural identity and the security of continuity,
something the youth of today’s First Nations often lack. One cannot
underestimate the healing to be gained from a restoration of an identity, a way
of life, centred on a balanced, interconnected community of human beings and
Mother Earth and the creation of Turtle Island.
The Coroner’s
report did not shy away from the criminal histories or solvent abuse of the
sixteen young people who died at Pikangikum, but he also did not downplay the
horrific tales of abuse and poverty they had to endure in their tragically
short lives which meant they decided ‘it is easier to leave this world than to
live in it.’[32]
The choice to commit suicide was not one of weakness, not a ‘capitulation to
death, but rather, a story of stamina, endurance, tolerance, and resiliency
beyond human limits.’[33]
In the lives of the sixteen, they demonstrated a tenacity and a strength to
keep living despite the abuse and the poverty that surrounded them. One cannot help
but feel that such strength and tenacity is inherited: it was first needed for
the millennia of human existence on the continent of North America; then in the
struggles against colonial inquisition. Aboriginal strength of spirit has
exposed the abhorrent situation of residential schools and today is demonstrated
in the communities who have fought the Canadian justice system for their right
to practice their ceremonies on their land. It is this inherent strength which
is the key to healing communities blighted by suicide. The means for recovery are
to be found in pre-colonial interaction, in the community of Elders teaching
the young, liberation of the land and freedom to practice beliefs in community.
It is the “civilizing” colonisers who have, ultimately, brought suicide to
First Nations, to Pikangikum and non-First Nations must today not stand in the
way of the recovery of the culture their colonial ancestors sought to destroy.
Bibliography
Adelson, N., ‘Toward a Recuperation of Souls and Bodies: Community
Healing and the Complex Interplay of Faith and History’ in Healing Traditions: The Mental Health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada,
Kirmayer, L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds), (University of British Columbia Press:
2009).
Canada Health Canada Advisory Groups on Suicide Prevention, ‘Acting on
what we know: preventing youth suicide in First Nations: the report of the
Advisory Group on Suicide Prevention’, (Ottawa: 2003).
Chief Coroner, ‘The Office of the Chief Coroner’s death review of the
youth suicides at the Pikangikum, 2006-2008’, (Toronto: Office of the Chief
Coroner: 2011).
Cooper, M., ‘Aboriginal Suicide Rates: Indicators of Needy Communities’
in A Persistent Spirit: Towards Understanding
Aboriginal Health in British Columbia, Stephenson, P. et al (eds), (Western
Geographical Press: 1995).
Iarocci, G., Root, R., and Burack, J., ‘Social Competence and Mental
Health among Aboriginal Youth: An Integrative Developmental Perspective’ in Healing Traditions: The Mental Health of
Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Kirmayer, L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds),
(University of British Columbia Press: 2009).
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Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: Transformations of Identity and Community’ in Healing Traditions: The Mental Health of
Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Kirmayer, L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds),
(University of British Columbia Press: 2009).
McCormick, R., ‘Aboriginal Approaches to Counselling’ in Healing Traditions: The Mental Health of
Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Kirmayer, L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds),
(University of British Columbia Press: 2009).
McDougall, D., ‘First Nations Youth Suicide Prevention Requires Youth
and Traditional Healers and Elders Leadership’ in Assembly of First Nations, Annual General Assembly, (Calgary:
2009).
Mishibinijima, D., ‘Healing from Suicide’ published in Wawatay News,
August 2012. URL: www.wawataynews.ca/sagatay/node/355 accessed 17/11/2012/.
Sioui, G., For an Amerindian
Autohistory, (McGill-Queen’s University Press: 1992).
Teichroeb, R., Flowers on My Grave,
(Harper Collins Publishers Limited: 1997).
Waldram, B., ‘Culture and Aboriginality in the Study of Mental Health’
in Healing Traditions: The Mental Health
of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Kirmayer, L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds),
(University of British Columbia Press: 2009).
[1] McDougall, D., ‘First
Nations Youth Suicide Prevention Requires Youth and Traditional Healers and
Elders Leadership’ in Assembly of First
Nations, Annual General Assembly, (Calgary: 2009).
[2] Kirmayer, L., Tait,
C., and Simpson, C., ‘The Mental Health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada:
Transformations of Identity and Community’ in Healing Traditions: The Mental Health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada,
Kirmayer, L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds), (University of British Columbia Press:
2009), p.7.
[3] Chief Coroner, ‘The
Office of the Chief Coroner’s death review of the youth suicides at the
Pikangikum, 2006-2008’, (Toronto: Office of the Chief Coroner: 2011), p.13
[4] Ibid. p.15.
[5] Ibid. p.37.
[6] McCormick, R., ‘Aboriginal Approaches to Counselling’
in Healing Traditions: The Mental Health
of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Kirmayer, L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds),
(University of British Columbia Press: 2009), p.341.
[7] Waldram, B., ‘Culture and Aboriginality in the Study
of Mental Health’ in Healing Traditions:
The Mental Health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Kirmayer, L., and
Valaskakis, G., (eds), (University of British Columbia Press: 2009), p.69.
[8] McCormick, R., ‘Aboriginal
Approaches to Counselling’ in Healing
Traditions: The Mental Health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Kirmayer,
L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds), (University of British Columbia Press: 2009), p.341.
[9] Canada Health Canada Advisory Groups on Suicide
Prevention, ‘Acting on what we know: preventing youth suicide in First Nations:
the report of the Advisory Group on Suicide Prevention’, (Ottawa: 2003), p.7.
[10] Ibid. p.6.
[11] Mishibinijima, D.,
‘Healing from Suicide’ published in Wawatay News, August 2012. URL: www.wawataynews.ca/sagatay/node/355 accessed 17/11/2012.
[12] Iarocci, G., Root, R., and Burack, J., ‘Social
Competence and Mental Health among Aboriginal Youth: An Integrative
Developmental Perspective’ in Healing
Traditions: The Mental Health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Kirmayer,
L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds), (University of British Columbia Press: 2009), p.97.
[13] Chief Coroner, ‘The
Office of the Chief Coroner’s death review of the youth suicides at the
Pikangikum, 2006-2008’, (Toronto: Office of the Chief Coroner: 2011), p.33.
[14] Ibid. p.28.
[15] Teichroeb, R., Flowers on My Grave, (Harper Collins
Publishers Limited: 1997). P.206.
[16] Cooper, M., ‘Aboriginal Suicide Rates: Indicators of
Needy Communities’ in A Persistent
Spirit: Towards Understanding Aboriginal Health in British Columbia,
Stephenson, P. et al (eds), (Western Geographical Press: 1995), p.219.
[17] Ibid. p.219.
[18] Sioui, G., For
an Amerindian Autohistory, (McGill-Queen’s University Press: 1992), p.10.
[19] Iarocci, G., Root, R., and Burack, J., ‘Social
Competence and Mental Health among Aboriginal Youth: An Integrative
Developmental Perspective’ in Healing
Traditions: The Mental Health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Kirmayer,
L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds), (University of British Columbia Press: 2009),
p.84
[20] Ibid. p.84.
[21] Kirmayer, L., Tait,
C., and Simpson, C., ‘The Mental Health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada:
Transformations of Identity and Community’ in Healing Traditions: The Mental Health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada,
Kirmayer, L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds), (University of British Columbia Press:
2009), p.27.
[22] Sioui, G., For
an Amerindian Autohistory, (McGill-Queen’s University Press: 1992), p.14.
[23] McCormick, R., ‘Aboriginal Approaches to Counselling’
in Healing Traditions: The Mental Health
of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Kirmayer, L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds),
(University of British Columbia Press: 2009), p.337.
[24] Ibid. p.338.
[25] Ibid. p.339.
[26] Ibid. p.339.
[27] Ibid. p.340.
[28] Chief Coroner, ‘The
Office of the Chief Coroner’s death review of the youth suicides at the
Pikangikum, 2006-2008’, (Toronto: Office of the Chief Coroner: 2011), p.14.
[29] Ibid. p.14.
[30] Adelson, N., ‘Toward a Recuperation of Souls and
Bodies: Community Healing and the Complex Interplay of Faith and History’ in Healing Traditions: The Mental Health of
Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Kirmayer, L., and Valaskakis, G., (eds),
(University of British Columbia Press: 2009), p.274.
[31] Ibid. p.276.
[32] Chief Coroner, ‘The
Office of the Chief Coroner’s death review of the youth suicides at the
Pikangikum, 2006-2008’, (Toronto: Office of the Chief Coroner: 2011), p.14.
[33] Ibid. p.23.
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