WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
The youth had just turned 16, was a quiet and respectful student and had his whole life ahead of him.
Nick Harper, his grandfather, says the entire family is still in shock and they have no idea why the boy, who CBC is not naming per his parents’ request, took his own life on the Red Sucker Lake First Nation school playground last week.
“I haven’t slept,” said Harper, who is also the community’s education director.
“We’re very puzzled. We were surprised that he did that to himself. I don’t know if he had any problems. He had good friends.”
The school at the fly-in community will remain closed much of this week as hundreds of students and staff continue to mourn the loss. It was a student who discovered Harper’s grandson at the playground before school last Tuesday.
Harper doesn’t expect the school will reopen until after the funeral.
On Sunday, elders and school staff gathered to pray at the site, where a cross has been erected, and in the school.
“The teachers are very impacted as well to the loss of the student,” Chief Sam Knott said after the ceremonies.
Knott is most worried by the despair and hopelessness he sees in the youth, especially the boy’s friends who are “overwhelmed and shocked.”
“Copycat, that’s what terrifies me. Other people [who are] thinking the same thing,” Knott said.
“These students, young people are still taking it hard as we speak. This mental therapist, really it is a nurse type, she’s been really reaching out to the kids that went to school that morning.”
Red Sucker Lake, which is near the Manitoba-Ontario border, about 530 km northeast of Winnipeg, has been under a state of emergency since last Thursday.
The Four Arrows Health Authority Mobile Crisis Response Team was on the ground after the death was discovered Tuesday, but has since left.
Harper says the family will travel to Winnipeg this week to pick up the body once an autopsy has been done. The family will hold a wake in the city, then bring him home for a wake and community funeral, Knott said.
Not only recent tragedy
The chief has been asking Ottawa for more mental health supports because this isn’t the only tragedy recently. A 30-year-old man took his own life last month, and Knott says at least 17 others have attempted to kill themselves since.
“We as a community have never experienced this trauma.… We don’t really know how to move forward, but, you know, that’s why we’re seeking resources,” he said.
In a statement to CBC News, an Indigenous Services Canada spokesperson wrote, “We are deeply troubled by the recent suicides.”
ISC says it’s looking to increase the number of days a mental health therapist can be in the community as part of the Non-insured Health Benefits Program.
Right now, someone provides counselling for just eight days a month.
ISC says the community has received $159,799 for 2022-23 under the Community Well-being and Jurisdiction Initiatives Program. It supports children and families through services for mental health and addictions, cultural and traditional programs, parent education, in-home supports and respite care.
Red Sucker Lake will also receive $2,093,759 this year to support families and prevent children and youth at risk of or experiencing maltreatment.
“That prevention dollars I don’t think hit our bank yet or our accounts, but that would be useful to mitigate this state of emergency,” Knott said.
In an email response to a CBC News’ query asking if the provincial government is providing the community with crisis support, a spokesperson listed existing help lines and available programs.
The email said mental health support workers are available through the Northern Health Region community mental health program.
The provincial spokesperson did not mention extra support specific to the current state of emergency.
Need for activities
Knott and Harper both said there is a critical need for activities to keep young people busy and away from drugs and alcohol.
The community has an arena, but it’s only open for skating in the winter. There is no drop-in centre for young people. And now, the school playground has been dismantled because of this latest death.
Community leaders organized camps for nearly 100 young people on the land this summer, but more cultural and sport programs should be available year-round, Knott said.
Harper recently took 20 high school students to a Winnipeg Blue Bombers game in the city. He said it was very expensive – between the flight and hotel – but worth it for students to see a world outside of their First Nation.
“I don’t know how you could prevent these sorts of things, but we need more activities for them,” he said.
Both Harper and Knott said they would like to see high school graduates have more opportunities for post-secondary education off-reserve.
“We have no other resources to accommodate all the graduates that desire to further their education due to a lack of resources,” Knott said, adding young people have no hope for their future.
If you or someone you know is struggling, here’s where to get help:
Anyone needing help can contact the Hope for Wellness Help Line, which provides immediate, toll-free telephone and online-chat emotional support and crisis intervention to all Indigenous people in Canada.
It’s available 24/7 in English and French, and upon request in Cree, Ojibway, and Inuktitut.
Call the toll-free Help Line at 1-855-242-3310 or connect to the online chat at hopeforwellness.ca.
Other available resources include: