Iqaluit (May 26/03) - More than 700 people gathered in Inukshuk high school over the May long weekend for the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention Conference.

Heather Firske, workshop facilitator at the CASP conference, encouraged everyone to find strength in their lives that they can draw on to find hope.

Premier Paul Okalik said it is important for all residents to keep working for a solution to a problem that has likely touched the lives of all Nunavummiut.

"As leader of a territory that has the highest suicide rate I am not satisfied with the work that has been done so far. I believe we can do more to address this real problem," he said.

"To my fellow Nunavummiut...I call upon you to take advantage of the skills and techniques that can be learned at this conference and bring that knowledge back home with you."

A wall near the school gymnasium illustrated the gravity of the problem in Nunavut. Collaged with names, the number growing as the conference went on, the wall identified hundreds of Nunavummiut who have died by suicide.

According to Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated and statistics from the chief coroner's office, since 1999 when Nunavut was created, 107 residents have taken their lives.

"NTI is very concerned about the high rate of suicide," said NTI president Cathy Towtongie.

"Our Inuit ancestors valued life, despite the hardships of their environment...this is not our way."

NTI has been a strong supporter of suicide prevention programs in the territory.

Aside from helping to fund CASP they also provided $50,000 to the Kamatisiaqtut Nunavut Help-line and $75,000 to the three Inuit associations to assist with delegate travel to the conference.

NTI has also helped produce three 28-minute videos dealing with suicide that are to be distributed to each community in the territory.

Those videos were the topics of one of nearly 100 workshops going on throughout the school over the three day conference.

"We need to understand what it is that pushes people to a point where death seems like a solution," said Heather Firske.

She facilitated a session that looked at ways to encourage hope and healing.

"All of our grandmothers could have told us why it's important to remember stories of hope and healing," she said.

Elder Lizzy Palliser also spoke during the workshop.

Her message was simple: try to touch everyone you meet in a positive way, don't merely pass them by.

"I was taught by one of my brothers, who was blind, about life. I came to think about the environment and how pretty it was," she said.