An Epidemic Of Suicide Among Native American Youth

Photo Credit: Kami Jo

Lorna Thackeray of the Billings Gazette reports on the disturbing rates of suicide of Native American youth:

"All the reasons that put young people at risk of suicide in the country at large are amplified on Indian reservations.

Indian children are more likely to be abused, see their mothers being abused and live in a household where someone is controlled by drugs or alcohol. They have the highest rates of emotional and physical neglect and are more likely to be exposed to trauma.

“The unfortunate and often forgotten reality is that there is an epidemic of violence and harm directed toward this very vulnerable population,” Dolores Subia BigFoot, director of the Indian Country Trauma Center at the University of Oklahoma, testified a before the Senate Committee of Indian Affairs during hearings on the Indian Youth Suicide Prevention Act of 2009.

“American Indian/Alaska Native children and youth experience an increase risk of multiple victimizations,” she said. “Their capacity to function and to regroup before the next emotional or physical assault diminished with each missed opportunity to intervene. These youth often make the decision to take their own lives because they feel a lack of safety in their environment. Our youth are in desperate need of safe homes, safe families and safe communities.”

...Weakening of those bonds and loss of culture and spirituality are among the reasons young people cannot find their way, she said.

Others describe historical and cultural trauma that remains ingrained in the Native American psyche. Colonization and racism and the abrupt end to traditional life still reverberate in new generations, said Clayton Small, a Cheyenne, who works in a nonprofit suicide prevention program.

Generational trauma weighs heaviest on the male population, he said. They commit suicide at a far higher rate than female Native Americans.

“In Indian Country the role of our men has been significantly altered,” Small said. “Then throw in poverty and violence and it descends into drug and alcohol abuse.”

He said one out of three Native American males end up incarcerated at some time during their lives, in part because their cases are brought in the relatively unforgiving federal system. With a criminal record, employment is nearly impossible to find and they suffer the indignity of not being able to support their families, Small said.

“We have to teach kids that they don't have to continue this cycle,” he said. “We have to teach them to cope with the stress and trauma they see every day.”

One organization that is seeking to stem this tide is Nations, a movement that seeks to develop leaders on the college campus by honoring Native American students and faculty by restoring their lives and culture with Jesus Christ. Nations embraces and honors First Nations people while recognizing that there is one true Creator who desires to restore what has been lost by placing his Son Jesus Christ at the center of American Indian life and culture. To learn more about this important organization, click here.

To read the rest of the Gazette article please click here.

(h/t to Racialicious for the link)

Asian American Women at Risk For Suicide

According to a recent University of Washington study*, women of Asian descent who were born in the United States are at greater risk to contemplate and actually attempt suicide than the general population. Although the researchers are unclear why U.S. born Asian women are at a greater risk for suicide, one contributor to the study has some ideas:

"It is unclear why Asian-Americans who were born in the United States have higher rates of thinking about and attempting suicide," said Aileen Duldulao, a UW doctoral student in social work and lead author of the study. "There is the theory of the 'healthy immigrant' that proposes immigrants may be healthier on average than U.S-born Americans, because of the selectivity of migration or the retention of culturally-based behaviors. But it is unclear if this theory is the mechanism at work with regard to our findings."

Evidence supporting this idea was previously found among Mexican-American and Latino American immigrants. However, Duldulao said, the health of immigrants tends to decline with the number of years they spend in the U.S. and start adopting behaviors that are less healthy than those found in their homeland."

Another contributing factor to the alarmingly high rates of suicide among young Asian American women may be the myth of the "model minority." In case you're not familiar with the term, the model minority refers to those of a certain ethnic minority group that excels in education, business or in adapting to mainstream American culture. Generally, this term is applied to East Asian cultures.

For example, there can be tremendous pressure placed on young Asian Americans to not only do well in education, but to be the best with little to no room left for error. This pressure, coupled with family demands and expectations, can become too much for those that fail to meet the standard that has placed upon them.

Although there is nothing wrong with educational attainment or striving for success in business, these accomplishments will never bring lasting satisfaction and fulfillment. It is why I'm grateful for my friends in the Epic Movement that seek to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to emerging Asian American leaders throughout the country. With large numbers of young Asian college students dealing with the pressures of college, the grace offered through a relationship with Christ is what will satisfy their deepest longings. To learn more about Epic click here.

*Thanks to Racialicious for the link and commentary on the study.