Suicide crisis deepens on the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation

The Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation at Loon Lake continues to struggle with a suicide crisis in its community.

The First Nation near Meadow Lake is concerned about “cluster suicides.”

In the past few days, eight people, mostly youth, have tried taking their lives since the First Nation declared a state of crisis last week.

The band CEO, Barry Chalifoux, said extra mental health and addictions staff from the Saskatchewan Health Authority are on the ground providing immediate relief, but a long-term commitment is needed.

“What’s going to be hard after this is these kids are going to need ongoing counselling and therapy. Parents are going to need support as well,” said Chalifoux.

Chalifoux said the community is still reeling from the past few weeks, which saw three suicides over three weeks. That included a 10-year-old girl who took her life.

“What we’re experiencing right now is multiple youth attempting (suicide) and we’ve had to respond to these situations and hospitalization has had to happen,” said Chalifoux.

Chalifoux and Chief Ronald Mitsuing plan to head to Regina to lobby for a regional prevention strategy.