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Spirituality has been the cornerstone of holistic Indigenous traditions.  Any school-based or community prevention program must include a spiritual emphasis for it to succeed.  Success has been found in one community-based approach in B.C., utlizing spiritual practices such as powwows, sweetgrass ceremonies, sweat lodges, and drumming circles.  The idea is that "culture is treatment and all healing is spiritual", and they have seen successes with alcholism studies in this community (Centre for Suicide Prevention).

River of Life, a program developed by Centre for Suicide Prevention and Indigenous Leaders, is a course to help arm the people who work with youth, with the proper knowledge and tools to help those struggling.

Life Promotion Plans is a guide developed by the Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers.

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Among our Indigenous communities, these frightening statistics are accompanying the deadly suicide rates:
-  Suicide has become a "normalized" response to hopelessness (Health Canada, 2010).
- In some Native communities, the stigma is so strong there is no word for it in the native language.  In many communities, there is an unspoken rule that the word suicide is not spoken (Centre for Suicide Prevention).
- Suicidal Contagion - occurs on som Indigenous Reserves because of the closenes of the community and their shared social issues. These clusters can have a suicide epidemic.

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This workshop is intended for Indigenous caregivers working in Indigenous communities.

The Walk With Me workshop draws heavily on Indigenous culture and tradition as it seeks to take participants through the cycle of suicide grief. Indigenous communities are frequently struck with a series of suicide deaths in a short period of time, each of these deaths adding to the already present burden of grief and loss. Bringing community members together for a day of hope and healing builds understanding and strength. This workshop takes the participants on a journey from the past, to the present and looks to the future; it creates a context for people to examine where they are in the grief cycle and how they can move forward to hope.

It is recommended that participants of this workshop also attend the 2-day ASIST workshop for skills-based suicide intervention training.

Workshop Topics:

Stories of Indigenous experiences

Talking openly about suicide

Suicide bereavement model

How we heal

Developing grief work strategies

Self-care

Audience

Ages 18+
This workshop provides information and practical approaches for understanding and dealing with our own grief and to better understand others' grief. It is NOT a replacement for grief counselling nor does it train participants to become counsellors. It is recommended that participants wait a period of time after losing a loved one to suicide before attending this workshop.

Information provided is appropriate for beginner and intermediate social work practice.

Certificate

All participants will receive a participation certificate upon completing 7 hours of instruction.

Special Accommodations

Please contact the Centre for Suicide Prevention if you need specific accommodations.

Equip yourself to respond to a person at risk of suicide.

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Walk With Me - Centre for Suicide Prevention

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This workshop is intended for Indigenous caregivers working in Indigenous communities. The Walk With Me workshop draws heavily on Indigenous culture and tradition as it seeks to take participants through the cycle of suicide grief.

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Before the 19th century, suicide among North American Native communities was extremely rare.  The dramatic increases are associated with:
-  culture shock with the arrival of the European
-  institutionalized racism in Canadian government policies
-  inhumane treatment of our Indigenous people.

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The reasons why Indigenous Youth choose sucide is multiple and complex.  There is a host of psychological, biological, social and cultural factors.

Historical impact of colonialism.  Policies of assimilation have suppressed Indigenous culture which results in a diverse groups of Indigenous peoples "estranged from their land, culture, and heritage".  Resulting in psychological and social breakdown (Centre for Suicide Prevention).

Feelings of marginalization, isolation, and helplessness (Centre for Suicide Prevention).

High rates of depression and mental illness.  Additionally, high incidences of substance abuse, sexual abuse, and violence (Centre for Suicide Prevention).

Almost half (48%) of all Indigenous People in Canada are under 24 years of age.  Youth seem to be in a "state of limbo" as they fail to learn Indigenous values and identity, while also failing to identify with larger society (Centre for Suicide Prevention).

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We Matter is a national multi-media campaign designed to gather positive messages from people across the country, to offer support for Indigenous youth going through a hard time.

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Indigenous people in Canada have the highest rates of suicide in the world (Centre for Suicide Prevention).

Suicide and self-inflicted injuries is the leading cause of death for First Nations youth and adults up to 44 years of age (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2016).

Suicide rate for First Nations male youth (15-24) is 126/100,000 compared to 24/100,000 for non-Indigenous male youth (Health Canada, 2010).

Suicide rate for First Nations females, 35/100,000 compared to 5/100,000 for non-Indigenous females (Health Canada, 2010).

Suicide rates for Inuit Youth are among the highest in the world, at 11 times the average (Health Canada, 2010).

Not just confined to reserves, FNMI suicidal behaviours have increased in urban settings as well (Centre for Suicide Prevention).