COVER
COVER
Using
Humour to Stop Teenage Suicide
ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
Selected excerpts from
First Nations Drum Celebratory Issue
BIOGRAPHY
Acclaimed
Aboriginal Writer Passes Away
BUSINESS
Metis
Refuse Premier Doer Order of the Sash
GOVERNMENT
National
Chief Pleased with Meeting with Premiers, Territorial Leaders
HUMOUR
Bee in the Bonnet:
Bad
News from the Doctor
Who
Gives a Fish?
How to Beat a Woman
MUSIC
Here
to Stay: Thirty Years of Aboriginal Music
MODERN TREATIES
Supreme
Court Rejects Treaty Right to Log
By Lloyd Dolha
It's nothing short of brilliant. It's a comic book to teach young aboriginal
people of the province about the dangers of suicide.
Thirty-seven year-old Sean Muir, executive director of the Healthy Aboriginal
Network, a non-profit society that promotes health, literacy and wellness
in the province's aboriginal community, is spearheading the comic book
project.
"The comic book idea came out of the realization that marketing health
ideas to people in their 30s, 40s and 50s is very difficult just because
they're not so open-minded; they're a little more set in their ways. So
the idea came to me that we should start going after youth," said
Muir.
Muir firmly believes there is a direct correlation between literacy and
health.
"Low literacy equals low health. The terrific thing about comics
is that they convey information on two levels - visually and in text form.
Plus you get the added benefit of repeat exposures because kids read them
over and over again," he added.
Muir established the society last January and was awarded funding for
the comic book project this spring by the Vancouver Coastal Heath Authority
and the BC Ministry of Health. HAN will create comic books on issues and
challenges that face aboriginal youth today. The first one will address
the heartbreakingly high incidence of aboriginal youth suicide attempts
in a small number of BC communities.
The creative content will come from professional and emerging aboriginal
cartoonists and will be reviewed for authenticity by aboriginal youth
focus groups in the fall.
The first comic book on suicide will be an icebreaker to help engage youth
in conversation about the dark subject matter. It will help them recognize
feelings in themselves, behavior in others and to reach out before an
attempt is made.
University backs project
UBC professor of psychology, Michael Chandler finds the concept and project
to be sophisticated and well executed.
"It's a really good initiative. If you can get kids talking about
this, that's good," said Chandler.
Chandler and UVIC professor Chris Lalonde recently published a definitive
study on aboriginal youth suicide in the province. Chandler points out
that there will undoubtedly be critics and naysayers who are concerned
that addressing the sensitive issue so openly and frankly will exacerbate
the problem.
"That's a faulty point of view," said Chandler. "I believe,
in general, that people are better off talking about problems than trying
to obscure them. That's why I think this is such a good enterprise."
The Chandler/Lalonde study on aboriginal youth suicide in BC found that
90 percent of the suicides or attempts occur in only ten percent of the
province's aboriginal communities.
Their study further found that First Nations that have taken steps to
preserve and build a sense of "cultural continuity" of working
to preserve their past while projecting themselves into an unknown future
have dramatically lower rates of suicide.
The aboriginal youth suicide prevention comic book is the first of a series
and is expected to be released in November 2005. Others will focus on
other health issues that aboriginal youth face such as crystal meth, AIDs
and diabetes.
The projects have been designed to involve aboriginal youth in every aspect
of the process including conception, writing, illustration and review
for authenticity. Health professionals and elders will also play an integral
role in the evaluation process.
Muir believes the comic book project has great potential because the medium
is non-threatening and is something kids really enjoy. HAN has already
been approached to do a comic book for the treaty process as well.
"I think we've really hit the nail on the head by combining health
and literacy," said Muir.