Pine Ridge School Counselor Brings Message of Hope for Ending Native Youth Suicide Epidemic to International Symposium in England
PINE RIDGE, S.D. – Amanda Carlow, a high school guidance counselor at the Red Cloud Indian School, Pine Ridge, SD; and Nancy Iverson, pediatrician and director of PATHSTAR, recently gave a presentation on the epidemic of Native youth suicides at the International Oxford Symposium in School-Based Family Counseling at Oxford College, Oxford, England.
In written testimony last June to the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Oglala Sioux Tribe President John Yellow Bird Steele said, “Since December (2014) we have lost eleven young people on the Pine Ridge Reservation to suicide. At least another 176 of our youth attempted it in that period, according to the Indian Health Service (IHS)…
“We simply cannot bear to lose any more of our children…Our youth are our future and therefore sacred; whenever we lose one child, it hurts the spirit and soul of every one of our people…”
The youth suicide epidemic is not unique to Pine Ridge. American Indian and Alaska Native youth 15 to 24 years old are committing suicide at a rate more than three times the national average for their age group, according to the IHS. For these youths, suicide has become the second-leading cause of death (after accidents). In the Great Plains, the suicide rate among Indian youth is the worst: 10 times the national average.
Carlow and Iverson's symposium presentation, Open Heart, Open Mind: There is Hope. (Working Together to Vanquish Youth Suicide), triggered a second special session and creation of a multi-national team of school counselors and other professionals to help end the youth suicides. Team members come from such countries as the Philippines, United States, England, Canada and New Zealand.
“Emails have and will be sent,” Carlow said. “The goal is to continue to work and communicate so that they get a better understanding of the reservation, what has been done in the past, what is happening now and focus on some positive ideas that will be long term and not just short-term fixes.”
Symposium members heard about the unique factors affecting Pine Ridge children and families and opened a dialogue on ways to help turn the tide of multi-generational trauma and prevent suicide among American Indian/Alaska Native children.
Carlow is a single mother to two children, son Riyen, 12, and daughter Ashlan, 6.
“When I arrived in London and I turned on my phone, the first news I read while waiting to get through customs/immigration was that there was another suicide at home. It was shocking and sad knowing how many lives were going to be impacted and I was so far from home,” she said.
“By the third day I found out that there was another suicide. Both students just graduated high school and had so much ahead of them. During our presentation there were definitely a ton of emotions; tears were shed, anger, shock and sadness. Suicide is a very sensitive topic and something that our youth experience too often,” she said.
Iverson first attended the Oxford symposium in 2003 and is an eight-time presenter. “With representation this year from at least nine nations and a wide range of educational and professional histories, the attendees offered a depth of experience and context that reflects the complexity of the problem,” she said.
“ Being able to draw from this collective wisdom, both through the interactions during the Symposium week and also through the ongoing consultation offers, we have hopefully been able to extend the resources available to Amanda and her co-workers,” she noted.
Home of the Oglala Lakota nation, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is routinely described as one of the nation’s poorest regions with a bleak outlook for self-embetterment; yet, its rolling, pine-fringed hills are also dotted with committed people and enterprises with an eye on a better future.
“…I didn’t want to just present on the negativity…there are some really good things happening on my reservation. We have a lot of people that are working with a purpose and with the youth at heart,” Carlow said. “…I wanted to not only open eyes and hearts to what goes on at home, but to open minds so that there would be collaboration and brainstorming. The Oxford Symposium has members with tremendous experience in the counseling field. My hope was and continues to be to build bridges while adding tools to create a positive change with opportunities that will help empower the youth,” she said.