Inuit help Innu, as Nunatsiavut lends support to Sheshatshiu suicide crisis

As support workers continuearound-the-clocksupport to helppeople in Sheshatshiu deal with the community'ssuicide crisis, theeffort has also brought together the wider Labrador Indigenous community.

Two members of the NunatsiavutMobile Treatment Team arrived last week in the Innu Nation community, among the first to answerChief Eugene Hart's call for external support in the wake of 10 attempted suicides in the span of a week.

"It shows strength and resiliency among the Indigenous population in Labrador," said April Andersen, a trauma and addictionssocial worker with Nunatsiavut.

"It shows that we can come together and support the people of Labrador, the Indigenous groups."

Since coming to Sheshatshiu, Andersen said herphone has beenringing off the hook with people looking to accessthe services she is helping to provide at the Mary May Healing Centre. The centre has been continuously open and staffed since the crisis was declared Oct. 29.

"It is a good idea to have 24-hour support for the youth because when you're having difficulty coping, it doesn't just happen from 8 to 4," she said.

"It happens 24/7, seven days a week."

Lived experience

Andersen's jobis about compassion, she said, and pointed out thatNunatsiavutcommunities have dealt with similar crises surrounding young people experiencing suicidal thoughts and ideations.

"Being from Labrador, we've all had to deal with someone in our lifetime that either thought about suicide or died by suicide," Andersen said.

"Having that lived experience provides me with a compassion that is very strong, and I want to support people."

We're going to look into many different ways to help with the long term.- Blake Sheppard-Pardy

While the cultural background and beliefs differ between the Innu of Sheshatshiu and the Inuit of Nunatsiavut, she said, the groups share common pastexperiences such asbeing forcibly resettled, and systemic racism.

• The Sheshatshiu suicide crisis 'didn't happen overnight.' How does the community break the cycle?

"What we're seeing is the effects of historical trauma.Itis still present in the communities today. So what happened in the past is still affecting generations today," Andersen said.

"Colonialism and colonization is a part of it, because that's how the historical trauma has happened."

Crisis intervention

When the crisis was called, Blake Sheppard-Pardy helped put the support plan in place, including the 24/7 clinic at the Mary May Healing Centre. Pardy works with Jordan's Principle, a federal program meant to ensure Indigenous children receive equal and culturally appropriate services.

"Seeing everybody come together as a group as a whole and to know that you are not alone, I think, is really important," Sheppard-Pardy said.

"[We are] working quite a lot to try and calm the situation and make it easier for everyone in the community to come and get the support that they need."

Jordan's Principle is a relatively new response effort, part of the outcome of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in 2016 to better serve Indigenous children.

"We're in place so that kids don't fall through the cracks," Sheppard-Pardy said.

Sheppard-Pardy said through Jordan's Principle, extra staff were securedto meet the needs of the community. They put up several temporary job postings to help deal with the crisis and were met with an influx ofapplicants.

"I'm hoping that with this, we can find a way to rebuild the community and rebuild the youth, and help them with anything that they're going through," Sheppard-Pardy said.

• 'Trapped for the rest of our lives:' How Innu mother and son see Sheshatshiu crisis

"That's what we're here for."

The plan is for some of those temporary positions become permanent.

"We're hoping to keep with those positions to have constant support to help the community," she said.

"We're going to look into many different ways to help with the long term."

Where to get help:

Canada Suicide Prevention Service: 1-833-456-4566 (phone) | 45645 (text) |http://www.crisisservicescanada.ca/(chat)

In Quebec (French):Association qubcoise de prvention du suicide: 1-866-APPELLE (1-866-277-3553)

Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 (phone), Live Chat counselling atwww.kidshelpphone.ca.

Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention:Find a 24-hour crisis centre.

Hope for Wellness Help Lineat 1-855-242-3310 or chat online athopeforwellness.ca.

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