Committee discusses suicide prevention for Indian youth

HELENA, Mont. (AP) – As the state health department tries to determine the best way to spend $250,000 to help prevent suicide among Native American youth, the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation has been using a more down-to-earth way of getting the young involved in their culture and the land with the hope of achieving the same result.

The goal of the tribal effort is not necessarily to focus on suicide, but to produce activities that create wellness, Jay Eagleman, a member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe’s Suicide Prevention Task Force, told the State-Tribal Relations Interim Committee on Thursday.

Last year, 21 Native Americans in Montana completed suicide, with the majority being between the ages of 15-35, the Montana Suicide Review Team reported. A total of 248 Montanans died by suicide, with most between the ages of 45 and 64.

Eagleman said the Chippewa Cree Tribe discovered that the health of its sweet grass plots often reflect the health of the community, so it used the health of the plant as a vehicle to help tribal members re-connect with their culture, elders and language, Eagleman said.

“From the exterior it appears as though it’s just a sweet grass workshop,” Eagleman said, but some efforts have involved getting “down on the ground, reconnect with your hands and knees, literally.”

“There’s a particular technique associated with finding this plant. It’s a ceremony. Without people knowing it, technically, they’re participating in this reconnect strategy,” he said.

Some of the efforts with the youth are more direct.

“We talk about the value of life, yes, we mention suicide, we talk about the taboos associated with its discussion,” Eagleman said. “When you’ve seen what I’ve seen you start to recognize that time is short and that people need help right now.”

Lesa Evers, tribal relations manager for the Department of Public Health and Human Services, told the committee that agency officials visited each reservation to ask tribes how they’d like to see the money spent. Ideas include a statewide program, grants to individual tribes and hiring an American Indian suicide prevention coordinator. The tribes have until Nov. 10 to submit other suggestions in writing, Evers said.

Karl Rosston, the state suicide prevention coordinator, presented the recommendations of the Suicide Review Team. They included educating people about the warning signs of suicide, recommending that primary care physicians routinely screen patients for depression and urging people to lock up firearms. She also recommended that schools teach problem solving and conflict resolution skills to young students.

But the committee was urged not to discount a spiritual component.

Data, statistics and Ph.D.’s won’t solve the suicide problem, committee member Rep. Kristin Hansen of Havre said “A change of heart will.”

“I’ve been directed by the higher authority to teach, to share and to remind people of where they come from, help them connect to who they are (so) they can reclaim their identity and live a holistic, balanced life,” Eagleman said.

Rep. George Kipp III from Heart Butte commended Eagleman on the “remarkable” program on the Fort Belknap reservation and said it sets the standard for other tribes.

Eagleman urged tribes to share their successful efforts.

It’s important for tribes to “go beyond the comfort zone of holding it as their own information so it’s like a sharing activity in order to sustain our generations,” he said.