Calls for action after report finds unnatural death rates in some First Nations over triple Ontario average
CBC
When Patricia Keesickquayash looks atop the hill of her First Nation's cemetery, which was expanded in the 1990s, she wonders how the plots filled up so quickly.
Unnatural death rates in First Nations across the Sioux Lookout area of northwestern Ontario are more than triple the provincial average.
"This is reality for us," said Keesickquayash, health director of Mishkeegogamang Ojibway First Nation, about 500 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.
The Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority (SLFNHA) provides services for 33 First Nations, most of which are remote. Its "Mental Health and Substance Use" report, which was released this week, includes data from 2011 to 2021 on how its communities are disproportionately affected by mental illness and addictions.
The report begins with first-person accounts, including Keesickquayash's story. It's the first time she's spoken publicly about her experiences with addiction and trauma.
"Throughout my childhood … it was shushed. We couldn't talk about it and nobody would listen."
Over the past year, First Nations leaders have been ramping up advocacy efforts for better health care:
SLFNHA and area leaders are calling on the provincial and federal governments to support First Nations in delivering better mental health and addiction services within their communities.
"The communities know exactly what they want to do and how they want to address the issue. Resources are therefore required — resources that are sustainable, long-term funding to address the issues," said Dr. Lloyd Douglas, public health physician with SLFNHA.
"We need to see more workers at the community level and all the agencies working together in a way so that the vision of this model can be achieved."
Keesickquayash was eight years old the first time she got high on solvents. She experienced physical and sexual abuse during her childhood, and domestic abuse in her early adulthood. She leaned on alcohol to cope.
But once she learned about the legacy of residential schools — her father was forced to attend — she came to understand the trauma that has inflicted tragedy across generations of her family, she explained.
"As a part of my honour to my father … I'll start the healing cycle with our family," she said.
Now well into her healing journey, Keesickquayash hopes her story inspires others to share their experiences, and that these stories can make a difference in First Nations.
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