Out of the Darkness Memorial Walk growing for First Nations

Neskantaga’s Tracey Wapoose honoured three siblings and other relatives lost to suicide, including Duane Moonias, at the Out of the Darkness Memorial Walk in Thunder Bay.
“This is my first time on the walk,” Wapoose said during the May 4 3.5 kilometre walk along the McIntyre River near Confederation College. “A lot has been happening in my community and I’d like to do something to help with what’s been happening back home.”
Neskantaga recently announced that three youth have committed suicide since last summer, including a 16-year-old girl on April 2. Sixty per cent of the community’s population of 420 are youth.
The Aboriginal Healing Foundation reported that the overall suicide rate among First Nations people is about twice that of the total Canadian population in a 2007 report: Suicide Among Aboriginal People in Canada.
And former national chief Shawn Atleo said the suicide rate for First Nations youth is even higher.
“At five to seven times higher than overall suicide rates in Canada, First Nations young people need every support required for its prevention,” Atleo said last September. “Our young people are the most powerful voices in our nations, and they need and deserve every opportunity to achieve success.”
Wapoose said it felt good to join in with other people who had lost loved ones to suicide at the Out of the Darkness Memorial Walk.
“I’m feeling the comfort of being here and I feel that I’m not alone,” said Wapoose, who completed the walk with her two daughters and some friends. “I’m proud that I’ve accomplished doing the walk.”
Wapoose encouraged other First Nations people to join the next Out of the Darkness Memorial Walk.
“The goal of this is to raise awareness around suicide, but also to help erase the stigma,” said Margaret Hajdinjak, who founded the Out of the Darkness Memorial Walk in 2010 after losing her son to suicide. “We want people to come out and walk with other people who know what you feel.” Hajdinjak said about 300 people usually attend the Out of the Darkness Memorial Walk.
“It’s very comfortable,” Hajdinjak said. “You know someone knows exactly how you feel. It’s really very powerful — there’s something about sitting beside someone and you don’t need to talk to them, but they know how you feel.”
Red Lake’s Jodi McKenzie walked in memory of her brother.
“I’m here to support my friend Cathy, who lost her son to suicide just like I lost my brother,” McKenzie said. “I’ve also lost an uncle to suicide.”
Sandy Lake’s Brenda Mason attended the Out of the Darkness Memorial Walk as a representative of St. Joseph’s Care Group’s Mental Health Outpatient Program.
“I think it is very important for us to be here to support this considering the high rate of suicide,” Mason said. “A lot of young people are looking for help.”
Mason said the number of First Nations participants in the Out of the Darkness Memorial Walk are increasing each year.
“It gives me an opportunity to talk with them in our own language,” Mason said. “I’d like to see in the future is more young people coming to participate here, not only in the walk but in the activities that are taking place here.”