Look at the core issues of what are causing the suicides: Grand Chief

Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy delivered the below speech at the Wapekeka First Nation 16th Annual Survivors of Suicide (SOS) Healing Journey Conference 2008 on July 22. Because the important message the conference carries, Wawatay News has been given the opportunity to print the Grand Chief’s words for all the people of Nishnawbe Aski.

Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to attend the 16th Annual SOS conference. It is an honour to be here with you today.

I would like to acknowledge the Creator and our ancestors for being with us today.

I would also like to acknowledge and give thanks to the community of Wapekeka and for the Coordinators of this conference for continuing to organize this annual event as a way of honouring the memory of our loved ones – the children, youth and the young men and women we have lost to suicide. I thank you for providing survivors with the opportunity to gather, to share and to heal through the help and support of one another.  

I encourage everyone to keep working diligently because as we all know, the Nishnawbe Aski Nation territory continues to have a high suicide rate. Pikangikum First Nation also has the highest documented suicide rate in the world.    

As Anishnawbe people, we have to take responsibility in addressing the problems that our children and youth are facing. We wonder why suicides are continuing to happen and far too often, it is easy to blame our history: the actions of the government in their assimilation policies, the Residential School system, the 60s scoop, as well as outsiders such as Ralph Rowe who caused a lot of harm through Sexual Abuse.

We blame people like Ralph Rowe for sexual abuse – he is no longer in our communities, and yet our children are still being sexually abused. Why are the suicides continuing? Where have we failed our youth?  What can we do to begin correcting this?

The simple answer is that we have to stop the blaming, stop making excuses and take responsibility to deal with the core issues and causes of suicide, such as family breakdown, grief, trauma, family violence, sexual abuse and so on.  

We have to end the silence and break these cycles in order to end the pain that comes from family violence and sexual abuse. We all know too well that our youth are choosing to escape from this pain by ending their lives.   

I know it is not always easy and people may be too afraid to look at the core issues and causes of suicide. It may be difficult to engage in meaningful dialogue and to work together, but we have to stop using past hurts such as the residential school system as an excuse.

We have to stop being afraid to address our problems. All we have to do is look around within our own families and our communities to see what this is doing – our children and youth are killing themselves. We have to be sincere in our commitment and efforts to address problems and issues.

Families have to take responsibility in dealing with their alcohol and drug addictions. Prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic within the Nishnawbe Aski Nation territory. The abuse of these drugs and the damage these pills cause on the physical body is a slow form of suicide.

Once again, this is because core issues have not been dealt with, and people are coping by using drugs to numb emotional pain. And it is the children who are suffering the most from the abuse of prescription drugs. We are seeing more and more apprehensions because children are being neglected, and they are also being removed to protect them from the violence in their homes.  

We have to work collectively and to encourage our children, our youth, and our people to deal with their problems in more  healthy ways – alcohol and drugs is not the answer.

Families also have to begin spending quality time with their children and spend less time with bingo, playing cards and gambling in casinos. Children must not be left alone in their homes while parents spend time on these activities. We hear stories of children going into school late and suffering from lack of sleep because the parents were not at home to put them to bed.  

Parents are the role models for children – what are you we teaching your children? What examples are you we providing? If you are teaching them right from wrong, you need to walk the talk with your children. As parents, you have to be the best role model that you wecan possibly be. You have to make sure your children know they are important, and that you love and respect them for who they are.    

We have to give our children and youth their voice. We must respect them, listen to what they have to say and provide them with the support and help they need because they are the future generation.       

We have to go back to our own cultural values, our beliefs, our own traditional systems, and our own way of life that has been passed down to us by our ancestors and elders. Who are we without our culture, our traditions, our values, our beliefs and our own languages?

Our culture, traditions and language is everything. We have to begin doing things with our youth, to instill them with the knowledge, wisdom, values and beliefs that are within our own culture.

Nobody from the outside can give us this or do this for us. It is up to us to teach our children and youth, and to instill them with the pride that comes from knowing their identity.

Our children and youth deserve to know the empowerment and strength that comes from knowing who they are as Anishnawbe people.

We always hear that we don’t have enough money to run programs and services - I understand the difficulties that the communities are facing. As a former Chief, I fully understand the challenges of meeting the needs of people. As the Grand Chief, I know all of the communities within Nishnawbe Aski Nation face similar challenges.

At the same time, I think back to what our people faced in the past – they had less than we did. But they survived, thrived on the land and lived in healthy communities. We should not depend on or wait for money from the government before we begin doing positive and healthy things for our own families and communities. All we need is a genuine commitment and effort - and we can do it ourselves.   

We cannot continue to ignore the problems that exist within our communities and we cannot simply talk about them either - we actually have to do something. I am calling upon all of the leaders within Nishnawbe Aski Nation to take a strong stand, to make the commitment, and to provide the political support and leadership that is needed to address the social problems within our communities.

It is very important that we do this so that our children, our youth, our families, and our communities can become a strong, healthy and vibrant Nation.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation territory is in the midst of an exciting time with the work that is being undertaken in our territory through Oski Machiitawin (formerly “Northern Table”).

We will finally have an opportunity to expand and develop economic and business opportunities that will support and lend itself to contributing and maintaining healthy communities.

We are in a greater position now than we ever were, to take advantage of the opportunities as a result of current jurisprudence on the duty to consult and accommodate First Nations and the strong political leadership that resides in our communities.     

Meegwetch.

Stan Beardy
Grand Chief
Nishnawbe Aski Nation