A northern British Columbia community is struggling to understand the rash of suicides that continues to take the lives of many of its teenage citizens.
In just one year, Hazelton has seen more than 150 suicide attempts -- approximately three every week among members of the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en First Nations. Many have been successful.
About 3,000 people live in "the Hazeltons," a community about 290 kilometres east of Prince Rupert that includes Hazelton, New Hazelton and South Hazelton. While the area is endowed with physical beauty, good jobs are scarce and substance abuse is rampant, giving many of the area's youth a sense of desperation and lack of control over their futures.
"I'm not too happy," area teen Jonathan Johnson told CTV British Columbia. "I need a job ... It's slowing me down. That's about it -- I like to work."
Jay Turley said he's tried to end his life several times.
"(I was) 10 years old when I first tried," said Turley. "I was sniffing gas ... doing any kind of drugs, I didn't care. Whatever was offered to me, I would take it, do it."
He said his problems started after experiencing sexual abuse at the hands of his grandfather and feeling unable to talk about it to anyone in his tiny community.
"I was sexually abused, which I really didn't enjoy," he said. "(It was) really painful to find out that he was related to me and it went down for about two years. He paid me to keep quiet."
The cost of that quiet was an inner torment that manifested itself in drug abuse and depression.
One of the most difficult things for many in the community to understand is the ripple effect, a trend present in native communities across Canada.
"When somebody completes ... this other person who had (ideas) or attempts (sees them as) their hero," said Hazelton area resident Sandra Olsen. "(They think) 'I wish I was them.' They have so much pain and they just want it to end."
The community has developed an intervention team to try to help break the cycle of death.
But the area's police still get so many suicide calls that they struggle to balance them with the rest of their work, said New Hazelton RCMP Sgt. Warren Brown.
"We are stretched to the max for our resources," he said. "Not only are we dealing with suicide, but other violent offenses that often take priority. Our tank is empty now.
"We are at a loss for what to do with the community."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Steve Sxwithul'txw
