Health crisis teams have been sent to an Indigenous community in Canada’s province of Ontario after a state of emergency was declared by tribal leaders when 11 people attempted suicide in one night, Canada’s public broadcaster the CBC reported Monday.
In the Attawapiskat First Nation in remote northern Ontario, 101 people, including an 11-year-old and a 71-year-old, have tried to take their own lives in the last seven months, epitomizing a broader crisis in First Nations communities across the country.
Saturday night was the tipping point, when Attawapiskat Chief Bruce Shisheesh and his council unanimously declared a state of emergency in light of the latest series of suicide attempts.
Federal and provincial health authorities have sent mental health counselors and emergency medical responders to the community to immediately fill the gap of the lack of local specialized social workers serving the area.
But First Nations communities recognize that long-term solutions and support are also crucial.
Last month, a spate of suicides in the northern Pimicikamak Cree Nation in the province of Manitoba also prompted the First Nation to declare a state of emergency.
The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Perry Bellegarde, has called the epidemic of suicide attempts in Indigenous communities a “national tragedy.”
Suicide and self-harm are leading causes of death among Indigenous communities in Canada, the Globe and Mail reported. National health data shows that suicide rates among First Nations men are over five times higher than among non-Indigenous men. Among First Nations women, the statistic is seven times higher than among non-Indigenous women.
Factors contributing to the First Nations suicide crisis include the devastating legacy of Canada’s residential schools that committed “cultural genocide” against Indigenous people, as well as ongoing structural discrimination seen in high rates of unemployment, lack of access to education, and poor infrastructure in Indigenous communities on and off reserves.
The Attawapiskat First Nation is home to about 2,000 people and has struggled with the problem of suicides for years.