Attawapiskat First Nation declares state of emergency after 11 suicide attempts in one day

The Canadian Press:

A tattered Canadian flag flies over a building in Attawapiskat, Ont., on November 29, 2011. A remote northern Ontario First Nation has declared a state of emergency after numerous suicide attempts this week.

    A tattered Canadian flag flies over a building in Attawapiskat, Ont., on November 29, 2011. A remote northern Ontario First Nation has declared a state of emergency after numerous suicide attempts this week.

   After an increasing number of young people attempted to take their lives in a remote northern Ontario First Nation last week, the chief and council have declared a state of emergency.
    The suicide epidemic in Attawapiskat started in the fall, when a number of people tried to kill themselves, said Jackie Hookimaw, a resident of First Nation on James Bay.
   Hookimaw’s great niece Sheridan took her own life in October. She was 13 years old. Hookimaw said Sheridan had a big heart, but she was plagued with multiple health conditions and was bullied at school.
   More recently, Hookimaw said, she was at the community’s hospital where she saw a number of teenage girls being treated after purposely overdosing on drugs. As she was leaving, a man came in for treatment. Later, she would learn that he, too, had tried to take his own life...thestarphoenix.com