There’s always a little light’: Indigenous youth find hope in the face of suicide – CBC
Cross Lake community in northern Manitoba declared state of emergency last year after 5 deaths
Apr 07, 2017
Every morning before 8 a.m., before 500 high school students arrive at Mikisew High School in Cross Lake, principal Anna McKay prays quietly alone in her office.
In those prayers, her mind turns to the struggles of the northern Manitoba Indigenous community, which issued a state of emergency last year after five young people committed suicide within three months and 140 attempted suicide within two weeks.
McKay says the suicides devastated her because she taught all of the students.
“We don’t want to lose another student,” she says. “When I see their faces, it makes me work harder for them. I want them to know: ‘I’m here for you.’
