November 2011 CUJ - Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian ...

Indian tribe uses tradition to combat suicidesBy TOM MAST, Casper Star-TribuneCASPER, Wyo. (AP)It began inside a jail cell, where ayoung man hanged himself.What followed was a cascade of deaththat threatened to engulf the Wind RiverIndian Reservation.During August and September of 1985,nine young people killed themselves.Most were Northern Arapahos.Four of the victims were between theages of 14 and 19, and five between 23and 26.Three additional victims, between theages of 18 and 23, had ties to the reservationand to some of the other victims.Eighty-eight verified suicide attemptsor threats also were recorded, the majorityby young people 13 to 19 years old.Mental health experts from around thenation tried to intervene.``But it wasn’t doing any good,’’ NelsonWhite Sr., an Arapaho elder, recalled.National media descended on thescene, an intrusion many people resentedas insensitive and bent on sensationalism.One television crew tried to crash a victim’sfuneral. Eventually, tribal leadersbarred the press from Indian land.Almost as quickly as it spread, thecontagion ended.Alcohol was a direct contributing factorin four of the deaths. But in the absenceof concrete answers, larger causesremained matters of conjecture.At the height of the episode, anArapaho elder remembered that certainceremonies had been performed duringan epidemic many years earlier.Prayers were said, and offerings madeto the four directions and to the Creator,to purify and restore harmony in a mannerconsistent with traditional beliefs.Elders Nelson White Sr. and CrawfordWhite said that’s when the deathsstopped.Their account is corroborated by ascientific review of the incident.In a journal article, Margene Towerof the Indian Health Service referred toa ``traditional medicine’’ ceremony thathappened at the height of the epidemic.``This ceremony was held followingthe ninth suicide,’’ she wrote. ``It was animportant cultural and spiritual eventthat aided in the resolution of grief andincreased cohesiveness in the community.No further deaths occurred afterthis ceremony was held.’’She noted that while suicide attemptsremained abnormally high for twomonths after the ninth deaths, these soonsubsided as well.It was the power of community anda people’s prayer that broke the deadlycycle, Nelson White Sr. said: ``We belongto the Creator.’’What happened among the NorthernArapahos in 1985 has not been forgotten.Efforts to forestall suicides today incorporateceremonies conducted in theArapaho language, talking circles, sweatlodges and involvement of elders, allwoven together in a kind of communitysafety net.Trained suicide interveners watch forearly signs of trouble. Both the NorthernArapahos and the Eastern Shoshoneswith whom they share the Wind Riverreservation have suicide preventionprograms. These efforts have been largelysuccessful.In 2009, an 18-year-old woman shotherself to death in Arapahoe, according torecords of the Fremont County coroner.Before that, a young person had not diedby suicide since 2003, when a 10-year-oldFort Washakie boy killed himself.Between 2000 and 2010, 116 peoplein Fremont County killed themselves.Twenty-seven, or 23 percent, wereAmerican Indian.Chaos erupted.A 15-year-old boy threatened to harmhimself with a knife; screaming and confusionensued.The cops wanted to jolt the boy witha Taser gun; nobody wanted him to run.Into this tumult stepped Telano Groesbeck,only a couple of weeks out of suicideprevention training.``I was scared,’’ he said. ``My heartwas pumping.’’ Would he say the wrongthing and make matters worse?Groesbeck began searching for somethread that would establish a connection.And among the Northern Arapaho,there’s always a connection.``The whole tribe’s a family,’’ CrawfordWhite said. ``One way or another,we’re related.’’On this occasion, Groesbeck knew theteenager’s dad, which established somecommon ground. Slowly, a potentiallylethal situation was defused.The Northern Arapaho tribe provideswithin its structure a support network forearly intervention.A distraught young person confidesin a friend, who alerts an aunt, who tellsGroesbeck, who invites the young personto a talking circle or a youth sweat lodge.Groesbeck said depression and suicidalthoughts often are intertwined withdrugs and alcohol abuse.In a sense, such behaviors are a slowmotion form of self-destruction: ``They’rekilling themselves doing it,’’ he said.The roots of destructive behavior canbe complex, but Groesbeck said the perniciousimpact of bullying is sometimesmissed. A child bullied at school mightalso be bullied in reservation housing bythe same tormentors, and so abuse can beunrelenting.``The answer’s always within the kid,’’he said. ``You have to listen.’’Suicide prevention efforts often arehigh-profile. Harmony Spoonhunter, directorof Eastern Shoshone Tribal Health,noted that a suicide prevention powwowwas held in June.Powwows are major communityevents. They can be used as an opportunityto share information and galvanizecommunity action.Suicide prevention programs inschools also are common, and both tribesactively seek to train people in suicideprevention.George Leonard, suicide preventioncoordinator for the Northern Arapahos,likened the stirring of suicidal thoughtsto a wild river. The goal is to rescue ayoung person at risk before he or shereaches the falls.Talking circles and sweat lodges provideyoung people with opportunitiesto learn more about their language, theirculture and traditional spirituality, andtherefore themselves, he said.RE-ELECTChairman, Board of Trustees (current)November. 15, 201152 Confederated Umatilla JournalNovember 2011