Aboriginal Suicides In Canada

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Flawless is no way to describe the state of Canada's Aboriginal reservations. In fact, while flawed, the system is also racist and wrong and there is no shortage of evidence to support this idea. There is an array of issues and implications associated with and caused by the system. It has political, social and negative health impacts. Due to this, the system is comparable to genocide. Canadian history shows strong distinctions between the indigenous people of Canada and the non-indigenous. The former is oftentimes viewed as lesser, unsophisticated and unintelligent. History dictates that the indigenous people are savages. This mentality dates as far back as 1492, when Christopher Columbus arrived on North American soil. The First Nations…show more content…
Among the Inuit, suicide rates are six to eleven times higher than the Canadian average. In Nunavut, 27% of all Inuit deaths since 1999 have been suicides. The Canadian average of males who have attempted to commit suicide is 2%, and 4% of females. Among aboriginals, 19% of females and 13% of males have attempted suicide. Youth with parents who had been forced into a residential school or had committed suicide themselves, were more likely to attempt suicide. The majority of aboriginal suicides occur on reservations. In Pikangikum, a reservation northeast of Winnipeg, the suicide rate is nearly twenty times that of Canada's general population, and has been for twenty years. The community of only 2,400 people has been called the suicide capital of the…show more content…
There is a serious shortage of available housing, and due to this shortage, overcrowding in homes is a common problem. "There are people who are living like sardines in some units... Sometimes, there's 18 to 21 people living in small units, and it creates an unfit home environment." In addition, 41.5% of the homes on reserves have immediate need of major repairs, versus 7% of homes off reserve. Conditions in the homes that are available threaten the health and safety of thee residents. These threatening conditions include, but are not limited to, mould, asbestos and structural

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