Making Suicide a Never Event in Indian Country
Sadé Heart of the Hawk Ali, former Tribal Lead and Senior Project Associate at the Zero Suicide Institute, educated healthcare providers on how to apply the tenets of the Zero Suicide Model in ways that resonate with the culture of indigenous communities in this video presentation.
“Making Suicide a Never Event – Zero Suicide in Indian Country,” was part of the Suicide Prevention Center of New York’s “AIM for Zero: Suicide Care is Healthcare” symposium September 28-30, 2021. Ali emphasized that suicide care must align with indigenous understandings of loss of life and taboos around language.
Ali explained that diversity of beliefs exists among the estimated 574 tribes, villages, bands, and nations recognized by the U.S. government, although universal truths are shared such as reverence for a greater power, honoring ancestors and the land, and belief in traditional medicines and healing ways.