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“Since 2005, when deaths began to be coded by ethnicity – close to 500 completed suicides have been recorded by First Nations people. Approximately 62 percent of all suicides were by a person under the age of 30.
Other startling statistics in the report included: the rate for First Nations girls, aged 10 to 19, is 26 times higher than that of non-First Nations girls; First Nations boys are six times more likely to commit suicide;and 25 percent of all suicides by First Nations people were teenagers.
“Something that really stands out for me is they’re addressing a suicide crisis,” FSIN vice-chief Heather Bear said.
“We know that our northern communities and southern communities are faced with young people with no hope.””
– Global News, ‘Don’t lose hope’: Saskatchewan’s suicide crisis among First Nations youth.
“Grim numbers from the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations are showing First Nations youth face a significantly higher risk of suicide than their non-Indigenous counterparts in Saskatchewan.
A discussion paper released by the FSIN on Friday used coroner office statistics to show there have been over 500 First Nations suicides in the province since 2005, a rate four times higher than in non-First Nation populations.
Over half of the suicides involved people under the age of 30.
Dr. Kim McKay-McNabb, a First Nations therapist, calls it “a mental health crisis.”
McKay-McNabb is one of two technical advisors assisting with the development of the FSIN’s Saskatchewan First Nations suicide prevention strategy, which will be released on May 18, 2018.
The release of her research comes almost one year after multiple suicides rocked the province’s northern communities.”
– HuffPost, Sask. Indigenous Girls 26 Times More Likely To Die By Suicide: Report.
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Download the 18″x24″ poster (.pdf), Indian Country 52 #48 – Do not lose Hope.
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Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country.
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This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
