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‘Mental health crisis’ prompts Sioux Valley state of emergency

The Brandon Sun - 10/15/2020

A state of emergency has been declared at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in response to what community leadership is calling a “mental health crisis.”

The decision came during an emergency meeting held Friday, at which chief and council discussed “a large number of deaths since January 2020.”

A band council resolution cites their most recent concerns “regarding the proliferating effects of suicide within the community,” as well as “compounding and escalating addictions and mental health problems” and “ongoing grief and trauma that has ultimately impacted the community collective.”

There have been approximately six suicides in the community since March, including three within a week, Chief Jennifer Bone told the Sun by phone on Sunday, adding there have been even more known attempts.

Speaking in a solemn tone, she said the community needs help.

“It’s affecting the community as a whole. The community feels the effects of these suicides — everyone’s feeling the effect of that.”

Friday’s band council resolution and a corresponding message posted to Sioux Valley’s website cites the COVID-19 pandemic as a contributing factor to the crisis.

According to the resolution: “Pandemic safeguards are hindering the community’s ability to conduct traditional and cultural grief and trauma practices for the health and safety of the community.”

The message makes note of the added stress the pandemic has brought for some people who fear bringing the virus home with them, students adapting to taking classes from home and for people with mental health conditions, “many experiencing even greater social isolation than before. And this is to say nothing of managing the grief of losing a loved one, sometimes without being able to say goodbye.”

Bone said she joined council early on in the pandemic to discuss and prepare for its potential mental health impacts.

“At that time, we purchased games, things like soccer balls — activities for people to do as families at home,” she said, adding they were “just trying to provide some ongoing support for people.”

Even so, she said the cancellation of various community events and ceremonies meant to bring people together has affected people.

“That’s part of who we are, those events,” she said.

Their community’s lone full-time mental health worker has been running ragged in their attempts to keep up with the workload.

The band council resolution both declares a state of emergency and calls on federal and provincial partners for “immediate assistance and to aid in planning for short and long mental health resources.”

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller’s office confirmed Sunday that they’ve been made aware of the community’s request. They have already pledged $141,000 toward mental health supports and an emergency response team will be arriving in the community on Wednesday.

The emergency response team — a mental health worker — is scheduled to spend three days in the community, Bone said.

The chief added she has also recently received confirmation that the Canadian Red Cross is eager to assist in some capacity.

While these things will help fill the community’s immediate needs, she’s joining council in advocating for longer-term solutions.

“With all these suicides, we need more resources in the community to be able to help with the grief counselling, to work with families, to ensure that they’re OK and that these families are being taken care of and that their mental health needs are being met,” she said.

“If we can just work together with the different organizations for the support that’s being offered for that to continue in the long term, to allow our front-line workers to be able to take care of themselves as well as to have some additional supports.”

In an emailed statement, Miller’s office attributed several unique challenges as compounding mental health challenges for Indigenous people in Canada, including the “intergenerational impacts of Canada’s colonial legacy, of systemic racism, of discrimination, of displacement, of the denial of culture and language, of inequities in health, wellness and socioeconomic factors.”

“While the issues of mental wellness and suicide are complex, we know that part of improving mental wellness in First Nations communities means providing better access to effective, sustainable and culturally appropriate services.”

On its Facebook page, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation has advertised a World Suicide Prevention Day walk for the Sioux Valley High School on Wednesday at 1 p.m. They plan on looping around the school and then returning for snacks and beverages. Masks are encouraged and physical distancing will be in effect.

The First Nation has also posted a number of help lines on its website, including the Sioux Valley Crisis Line at 204-512-0874 and 1-888-316-3511.

Miller’s office pointed to The Hope for Wellness Helpline (1-855-242-3310) as a crisis intervention service they are helping fund.

The line “provides immediate, culturally competent, telephone crisis intervention support for First Nations, 24 hours a day, seven days a week in English and French and upon request in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut.”

Bone said that in addition to promoting these supports and those expected to arrive in the coming days and weeks, she wants community members to know their concerns are far from being ignored.

“I want all of the community to know that they are not alone — that no one is alone and that there is help out there.”

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Arlen Dumas offered his support in a media release issued during the weekend. He committed to helping Sioux Valley “in any way possible” and affirmed that mental health is “of top priority.”

“Mental health is part of our health, and no one should be made to feel alone,” he said. “We are all in this together. Be socially distant, but do not forget about each other.”

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB