According to Statistics Canada, Indigenous people have a higher risk of suicide than non-Indigenous people because of "socioeconomic characteristics" such as household income, labor force status, level of education, and marital status. For example, suicide rates are 35 per 100,000 for First Nations women, compared to 5 per 100,000 for non-Indigenous women. That's a pretty big difference if you ask me. These suicides not only cause profound grief and bereavement for families. It also affects the community and society at large, especially when the deceased is a young person.

Suicide has a relatively large and significant influence in small Indigenous communities, where many people are related and face similar personal and collective adversity.

Did you know? The suicide rate among First Nations people in Canada was three times higher than the non-Indigenous, between 2011 and 2016. 

We can no longer ignore this issue. It's been a concerning problem for the past 40 years, but only now are we hearing about the ugly truth. It's no longer good enough for us to tell Indigenous people that it'll get better. What if it was your friend? or your mom? We have to make it better. We have to raise our voices. We have to step up and make the change. That means you, your friends, your teachers, your parents, your dog. You may be thinking I can't change anything, I'm just one person. You don't have to break down doors or start riots to make a point. Whether it's speaking up on social media, writing letters to the government, donating, setting up shelters, or going to protests. Just don't ignore the issue and don't be invisible. The indigenous community already lost 169 lives last year. That's 169 too many.