The sudden impact of modern life had a devastating effect
Maria Canton
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Mar 13/00) - Many elders say when they were young, suicide didn't happen in Inuit communities.
The response is similar when the question is put to other Inuit -- suicide didn't really happen before the 1970s.
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How to help
If someone you know exhibits any signs of suicidal behaviour, do the following:
1. Listen openly and calmly. Don't expect to solve the problems, just listen. Don't be afraid to talk about suicide or the problems that have caused the suicidal behaviour. Problems don't get worse by talking about them.
2. Show you care. If they confide in you that they have been thinking about suicide, tell them and show them how much you care.
3. Don't agree to keep their suicidal thoughts a secret. Get a professional to do a suicide risk assessment and don't leave the person alone.
4. Get professional help. Tell them you know their life is difficult right now, but there are people who can help. Assist them in finding professional help and support them in doing so.
5. Don't ignore threats. Don't try to change the subject or ignore threats because you're scared. This may look like you don't care.
6. Don't offer simple advice. To a person thinking about suicide, the problems look major and unsolvable right now.
7. Don't tell them they're selfish to consider suicide when their life is so good. You will make them feel guilty as well as depressed.
8. Don't say, "Suicide is the easy way out." There is nothing easy about suicide. |
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When government began to have a profound effect on the eastern Arctic in the late '60s and early '70s, there was a radical change in people's lives.
They were moved into newly established communities that were often over-crowded. There was little to do for youth who no longer had to use their traditional skills to survive.
Instead of living off the land, supplies came from stores. A formal education system was introduced that was aimed at preparing people for jobs that were neither plentiful nor always practical.
"These communities are made up by government, they are government settlements and the Inuit did not take part in where they wanted to live -- we're dealing with that kind of impact," said Rebecca Williams, who is now Nunavut's assistant deputy minister of justice.
"What are (hunters) feeling about having to live up in a valley when they should be down at the beach?
"A big part of their life is to live by the ocean, but the government came in and said you have to live in the valley or behind the mountain.
"Today we are dealing with their children."
The relocation of people from the land disrupted the traditional social structure of the Inuit, which had evolved over centuries of nomadic life.
One of the results was alcohol and drug abuse, and a loss of self-esteem began to surface in many communities. Suicide slowly crept in as an answer to these unfamiliar problems.
Peter Irniq, who has lived his life in the traditional Inuit way, says when he was young, the only time he would hear of suicide was if a very old elder took their own life because they felt like a burden, but even that was very rare.
"Suicide (as we know it) has only been since the '70s. I think a lot has to do with so many changes within 30 years, and we expected Inuit to become something they were not able to become," he said.
"And yet, we've adapted very, very quickly."
The Inuit did adapt, but not before their culture was in danger of becoming unglued. Hunters lived far from their hunting grounds, children were forced to leave their families to attend residential schools and emotional problems grew.
Soon communities were dealing with teens, young adults and parents attempting to take their own lives.
"Every one of us in Nunavut has been touched by suicide," said Irniq.
"We have had very close friends, very close relatives who've committed suicide."
Suicide became a learned mechanism for coping with problems.
"People see others with the same problems as they have and they see them cope with those problems by committing suicide," says Sheila Levy.
"Committing suicide becomes something that is learned and one way of dealing with the problem, and it's not one that is way out there, but actually within their grasp."
Levy has been teaching and counselling at schools throughout Nunavut since 1978 and more recently, has been instrumental in establishing the suicide crisis line based in Iqaluit.
She says a common thread among teens and young adults who are choosing the path of suicide is an accumulation of losses.
"They usually end up picking one issue they are going to commit suicide over and a lot of times it's a relationship issue.
"But with everyone it's usually a long list of losses that they have been feeling over time and a personal inability to cope with so many loses," says Levy.
"When it gets to copycat suicides, it's usually about loneliness and wishing to be with the person who has gone on.
"Young people talk about having people come to them in dreams and asking them to join them."
And although many Nunavut communities are now reporting that the number of suicides is down, they still exist.
"Suicide is something that every individual in every community has to be concerned about.
"Yes, money helps and the GN being involved helps, but community groups getting together makes the difference," says Levy.
