More than 100 students at a high school on the Navajo Nation attended a suicide prevention workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Clayton Small, a member of the Northern Cheyenne. Tribe of Montana, developed the program specifically for Indian youth. Helping Our People Endure, or HOPE, seeks to encourage participants to embrace tribal culture but also to talk openly about suicide.
"I want to get people to acknowledge that talking about suicide is no different than getting your eyes, ears or throat checked when you're sick," Small told the students at Shiprock High School, The Farmington Daily Times reported. We need to get out of this denial mode."
According to national statistics, American Indians and Alaska Natives between the ages of 15 and 34 are at the highest risk for suicide.
Get the Story:Students talk stereotypes, stress in effort to educate American Indian teens on suicide (The Farmington Daily Times 5/8)
Shiprock program helps students ‘honor who we are’ (The Gallup Independent 5/7)
