FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron. Photo courtesy of the FSIN.
Hundreds of First Nations people from across the province are gathered in Prince Albert this week to talk about ending suicides in their communities.
The Medicine Gathering runs today and Tuesday, and is hosted by Prince Albert Grand Council. It came about after the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations resolved to take action in the wake of a series of suicides of young females in northern Saskatchewan, but the gathering will be anything but political.
The majority of attendees will be frontline education, health and wellness workers as well as young adults from the province’s 74 First Nations, said organizer Linda Cairns. She is a suicide prevention coordinator with PAGC Holistic Wellness Centre’s Embrace Life program.
Cairns said keynote speaker Dr. Darien Thira has proven that change is possible through his work as a registered psychologist who specializes in mental health consulting with Indigenous communities across Canada.
“Dr. Thiera has worked with other communities and within five years they’ve been free of suicide. So it’s not that it isn’t possible – it is possible – but it’s going to need a lot of people who are willing to work together to make it happen,” Cairns said.
She is optimistic that there is a way through pain, and part of that path is for First Nations people to network with each other.
“Our goal here is to focus on life and living, ways that we can protect and promote life in our communities, amongst our youth in particular, but the community in general,” Cairns said.
PAGC has invited two community representatives from each First Nation in the province, and asked them to come armed with at least one idea that has worked in their communities.
“What I know through my work with suicide is if we’re going to find something that’s going to work in the community, it needs to have community members working together to find that solution. And if we can be of any help or support, that’s our role,” she said.
Hundreds of people are expected to attend, and a third of them will be between the ages of 18 and 30.