Indigenous Youth Suicide Case Study

The impact of colonization on First Nations peoples in Canada is unsurpassable, regarding every aspect of Aboriginal life and well-being. Throughout Canadian history, the government has been aiming to assimilate and annihilate Aboriginal people by way of racist policies, ethnocentric institutions, discriminatory laws and destructive capitalist behaviours. Because of this, Aboriginal people have suffered many losses, both physically and culturally. One of the main perpetrators of enacting this loss is the education system. The education system in Canada has and continues to threaten the relationship First Nations peoples have with the land. The connection First Nations peoples have with the land is crucial to their cultures, traditions, ceremonies and beliefs. Colonization and colonialism jeopardize this relationship and that is what this essay will address.

Over the past decades, Aboriginal people (the original people or indigenous occupants of a particular country), have been oppressed by the Canadian society and continue to live under racism resulting in gender/ class oppression. The history of Colonialism, and Capitalism has played a significant role in the construction and impact of how Aborignal people are treated and viewed presently in the Canadian society. The struggles, injustices, prejudice, and discrimination that have plagued Aboriginal peoples for more than three centuries are still grim realities today. The failures of Canada's racist policies toward Aboriginal peoples are reflected in the high levels of unemployment and poor education.

Aboriginal youth living on reservations today, are living with the controls and limitations that may be detrimental for their further or current success in education, as in a comparison to the rest of Canadian youth who have access to a wide array of resources provided to them. This may include more teachers, which have a higher standards of testing, “the teachers who are trained exclusively in provincially accredited teachers colleges aren’t trained properly…to teach in our schools and our kids have been suffering for way too long as a result” (Barrera, J. ATPN National News, para. 21). There seems to be multiple sub-categories that Aboriginal youth within Canada today are confronted with; isolation, depression, suicide, racism, bulling, hate crimes, poverty, substance abuse, crime, and mistrust of the education system due to colonialism, lack of a support systems and a lack of confidence to further their education with the absence of empowerment in their current environment. This is a systemic cycle that has certainly not been resolved and continues to be a hardship for the First Nations society. Considering these multifaceted elements that add to First Nations adolescent barriers of the non-equal educational opportunities or privileges as other adolescents in Canada. Therefore what are the next steps to prevail for the Aboriginal peoples, is there anything that can be held accountable or done?

Aboriginal persons in Canada have been facing oppression ever since colonization began. Even when Canada gained independence from the British Empire, the oppression continued and still goes on today. One major contributing factor to the oppression of Aboriginal people in Canada is the actions taken by the Government. The Government of Canada has in fact mistreated and found to be partaking in wrongdoing when dealing with the Aboriginal population in this country. With this ugly truth being revealed, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had to be tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government in the hope of resolving conflict left over from the past. (cite)

Since the colonization of Canada First Nations people have been discriminated against and assimilated into the new culture of Canada through policies created by the government. Policies created had the intentions of improving the Aboriginal people’s standard of living and increasing their opportunities. Mainly in the past hundred years in Canadian Society, policies and government implemented actions such as; Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reserve systems have resulted in extinguishing native culture, teachings, and pride. Policies towards the treatment of Aboriginal Canadians has decreased their opportunities and standard of living because of policies specified previously (Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reservation systems).

Canada ­as a nation is known to the world for being loving, courteous, and typically very welcoming of all ethnicities. Nevertheless, the treatment of Canada’s Indigenous population over the past decades, appears to suggest otherwise. Indigenous people have been tormented and oppressed by the Canadian society for hundreds of years and remain to live under discrimination resulting in cultural brutality. This, and more, has caused severe negative cultural consequences, psychological and sociological effects. The history of the seclusion of Indigenous people has played a prominent aspect in the development and impact of how Indigenous people are treated and perceived in today’s society. Unfortunately, our history with respect to the treatment of Indigenous communities is not something in which we should take pride in. The Indian Act of 1876 is an excellent model of how the behavior of racial and cultural superiority attributed to the destruction of Indigenous culture and beliefs. The Indian Act established by the Canadian government is a policy of Aboriginal assimilation which compels Indigenous parents under threat of prosecution to integrate their children into Residential Schools. As a nation, we are reminded by past actions that has prompted the weakening of the identity of Indigenous peoples. Residential schools has also contributed to the annihilation of Indigenous culture which was to kill the Indian in the child by isolating them from the influence of their parents and

The sociological effects that Aboriginal peoples in Canada face are vast. Residential schools, stripped people of their identity, enforced a cultural genocide, abused (both sexually and physically) children and created an unjust line of intergenerational trauma. Kinship ties, for the majority were lost during the residential school period, sometimes leaving entire communities displaced. The Canadian Government fails to recognize the treatment of Aboriginal peoples during the residential school period and there hasn’t been much done to help those who are affected.

Imagine having your identity and culture stripped away from you. This is what has happened to many Indigenous people throughout history in Canada. This has been done through the process of colonization. There are many devastating impacts of colonization that has affected Indigenous people all over Canada including racism and stereotyping as well as the downfall of the health of Indigenous people. Racism against Indigenous people has been a major impact of colonialism throughout the years. The racism and institutionalized racism has grown over the years and has made it complicated for many Indigenous people to practice their spirituality and culture. There are also many health consequences of colonization including starvation, disease, mental illness and addiction. There are many impacts of colonization that have affected Indigenous people throughout history and continue to impact them today.

The history of Canada is the era of where colonization all began towards aboriginal peoples. Over the past decades, aboriginal peoples have been mistreated and misused by the white-Europeans. They have been oppressed by Canadian society that we are known still by today and continue to live under racism resulting in gender and class oppression. The history of colonialism has been playing a big part in the way of how aboriginal people have been constructed and impacted on how aboriginal people are treated and viewed in Canadian Society. They have been dealing with the struggles, inequality, and discrimination that we have been putting them through for over three centuries, we’ve been also failing them with Canada’s racist policies

Aboriginal people represent less than 3% of the total population in BC. Yet, they account for more than 9% of all suicides in BC (Chandler). The numbers of suicides amongst aboriginal youth are even more alarming – nearly one-fourth of all youth suicides in BC are committed by aboriginals and more than half of all aboriginal suicides are committed by youth (Chandler). The fact that indigenous communities in Canada have the highest rate of suicide of any culturally identifiable group in the world implies that these alarming statistics may not solely be a result of aboriginal communities belonging to a minority cultural group. I will attempt to build a speculative hypothesis behind the significantly high suicide rates amongst aboriginal

On October 15th 2013 the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, released a statement upon the conclusion of his visit to Canada. In his statement, Anaya reveals that “from all I have learned, I can only conclude that Canada faces a crisis when it comes to the situation of indigenous peoples of the country” (2013:8). Even though Canada was one of the first countries to extend constitutional protection to the rights of indigenous people, Canadian aboriginals experience a well-being gap. Aboriginal teens are more likely to commit suicide; Aboriginal women are

Paige and Alex are recent cases of two Indigenous youth dying while in care. Paige was an Aboriginal girl who was treated with professional indifference and in return led to her death (Representative of Children and Youth (RYC), 2015). “Paige’s story reveals the massive gap between our understanding of the effects of trauma and the systems at the front line” (RYC, 2015, p.9). The CFCSA was not used by professionals in this case, where social workers and MCFD mishandled her file and failed to adequately assess risk to her as a young child. This can also be seen in the case of Alex, where another Aboriginal child in care lost his life. The constant “effects of early and continual trauma in Alex’s life due to abuse, instability, and constantly

Seeing that youth suicide rates amongst Aboriginal youth are five to seven times higher than non-Aboriginal youth, and Inuit youth are among the highest in the world, at 11 times the national average, there are several contributing attributes that should be further researched. (Health Canada, 2013) One of the contributing factors that are discussed in many Aboriginal courses is that of identity. Aboriginal youth who face high levels of intergenerational trauma due to the RS system often find themselves distanced from Aboriginal culture, without their mother tongue, and western culture. This alongside the negative portrayals of Indigenous peoples within media many times go much deeper to factors beyond an individual 's control and end up as a common root cause of suicide. One way for the federal government can combat this particular factor is through the emplacement of acknowledgment initiatives. Trying to reduce negative stigmas and stereotypes as well, to educate, can help promote healthy self-esteem and confidence levels within Aboriginal youth and result in the prevention of high suicide levels amongst Aboriginal youth. (CITE)

Accordingly, a number of elements can influence an individual’s mental health including social relationships, education, and income. As such, historical elements including the legacy of residential schools are an unequivocal determinant that has contributed to the construction Aboriginal peoples mental health. Relatedly, a research project commissioned by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation working with survivors of these horrific institutions has revealed that many face collective mental health challenges including: post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse disorders, and major depression (Health Canada, 2007). However, these mental health impediments attributable a history of colonial policies and the residential school experience have transcended generational boundaries and continue to affect Aboriginal youth today. For example: suicide is the foremost reason of death among Aboriginal youth and adults up to 44 years of age and the largest proportion of total deaths is among individuals aged 10 to 24 years old (Health Canada, 2007). In addition, Aboriginal youth commit suicide between five to six times more frequently than non-Aboriginal youth. To enumerate, the suicide rate for Aboriginal males is 126 per 100,000 compared to 24 per 100,000 for the general Canadian

“Suicide rates among Inuit are shockingly high at six to 11 times the Canadian average. In Nunavut in particular, 27% of all deaths since 1999 have been suicides. This is one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and it continues to rise, especially among youth.” (“Aboriginal Mental Health” :2015) Canadian Inuit are experiencing a suicide epidemic which has presented itself as a quite pervasive issue. This issue is prevalent on a grand scale yet, at the same time, not many people in the Western hemisphere are aware of its crippling effects on Nunavut, Canada’s adolescent Inuit population. Nunavut is a region in Canada which located in the northernmost part of the country and receives drastic changes in the amounts of sunlight