This topic means a lot to me because my family member committed suicide on July 22nd, 2022 it was the hardest time to go through, and my family and his family grieve about it. He left two of his little sons, close friends, and family. He was a very loving, supportive person, He loved talking shit but that's just his way of communicating and making people laugh, He always loved playing baseball and sometimes he would think he could beat me in basketball on 1v1 but he only won a few times we played, He loved playing sports didn't matter what it was we still played it together that was our way of bonding. He was always motivating me to do new things and teaching me new ways of doing it.  I feel that this topic needs to be talked about more in Pueblo communities so that way it can help anyone who’s going through it or lost someone close to them.  I went through the same thing with failed suicide attempts but still trying to overcome it and that's why I have a tattoo of a semi-colon it keeps me pushing every day and reminds me to never give up.

The article, “Sharing One Skin”, by Jeanette Armstrong gives you information about the four selves. Those sleeves are physical, emotional, Thinking-intellectual, and Spiritual. They all have different meanings to them that connect to a tribe. “The body is the earth itself” is one part of the whole self, The body is scared of the core of our being which permits the self to be, that's one of the sleeves to the article and it’s physical. The body keeps going and going and coming stronger into oneself that lets it be.  

The second one is the emotional self, “What is your heart on this matter?” The emotion or feeling is the capacity whereby community and land intersect in our beings and become a part of us, The bond is a priority for our wholeness and well-being.

 The third one is Thinking-Intellectual “A fire that is not controlled can destroy”. We always join this thinking capacity to the heart self, Its power can be a destructive force both to ourselves and to the larger selves that surround us.  The fourth one is spiritual “ hear/Interpret” All knowledge is spoken by all things that surround us including our bodies, to bring new expertise into existence.

In the Article "Boarding Schools + Assimilation" Native americans children were taken away from their homelands and forced to go to boarding schools. During that time as the children got there, they had to strip take baths, and wear American clothes, and boys were forced to cut their long hair. The children were forced not to talk in their language but to speak English if they spoke in their language they would get a punishment those punishments were whipping and beatings by the school staff, Making them and forcing them to lose their culture, tradition, and their identity.  There was a breakout of diseases that spread like wildfire the students got ill and some got sent home so that way it could spread the diseases throughout their communities, The reason was to get their community sick and ill making them lose their people and have a smaller population. 

In this article, there were people who were a part of the LGBTQ community that weren't getting that acceptance with their family or just in the outside of the world. Mental health, and suicidal thoughts, and exacerbated by discrimination over their disabilities. Rates of suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, and self-harm were also higher. Open arms those who felt that connection with their therapist but those who didn't feel their therapist understood them attempted suicide 25% of those people who didn't have a connection with their therapist. Being heard feeling seen, understood, and affirmed is powerful for all LGBTQ youth particularly those who live at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities, and is constantly related to moving more positive mental health outcomes. Taking action has its impact.

This podcast talked about how the issues on reservations are locked systems in cause of poverty and economic straits, opportunities for education and pay jobs weren't there in the reservation straits. This encountered a lot more cluster suicides in native american communities than in general populations. There were 5 suicides in that community. It can be devastating whether it's direct relatives or not, it's your community and your community is like your extension of you so when you know them or not it still can be devastating. One student didn't pass their degree because of how much it impacted her. The trauma Dr.Beverly Putchell  Says "I think with historical trauma you live with that more result where you can even know what it is or not." She grew up in Oklahoma Cherokee by the museum she had a friend who wanted to go to the museum but barely waited outside. reason being the museum had dates with native American timelines and statues that make it look real. Also, the tragedies/ successful Beverly was the family therapist director. the things she learned and the techniques from school and she has been practicing. 

In the article there was a boy who committed suicide when he was 16 years old, it talked about the effects and grieving of losing someone, People in his family and his community were struggling. The Shoshone Bannock tribes, While suicide has long been prevented in Indian country the dialogue necessary for healing and prevention isn't yet there, and as long as suicide is answered with silence. Many people from those tribes don't like talking about it if it happened and that's when families feel like they shouldn't talk about it or they just don't want to be ashamed of it. In 2019 centers for Disease Control and Prevention report tracking suicide from 1999 to 2017 showed suicide rates among native American people increased by 139% for women and 71% for men, Contracted against an increase of 33% for the wider population.

A community of people in the spring of 2016 Attawapiskat First Nation reservation in Ontario declared a state emergency after 11 young people tried to commit suicide in one night. 100 attempts were made over 10 months in this community of 2,000 people. Many people from different tribes in Canada there was a tribe that lost three 12-year-olds in Ontario. People were feeling judged. Katrina says "People call us freeloaders. They call us dirty Indians, I'm judged because of my culture and heritage."  The government has been criticized for its lack of support and funding for the nations and communities.