American Indians/Alaska Natives: Community Issues
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Suicide prevention curriculum gets national nod
Students all over the country will now be able to benefit from a curriculum previously only available to Washington state students.
The Help Every Living Person curriculum, which teaches students about suicide prevention, was listed on the Suicide Prevention Resource Center’s Best Practices Registry in February.
The listing, one of only 12 in the nation, means that HELP is a model program for suicide prevention.
National Indian Education Association's Magazine Named Best Magazine of the Year by the North American Indigenous Image Awards.
Our Community Issues:
- Regaining and maintaining the right of self-determination and governance.
- Expanding tribal opportunities for social, health, educational, and economic development.
- Addressing the suicide rate for AIANs which is 2-1/2 times the national average. According to the BIA annual survey, suicide is the second highest cause of death for 16-24 year olds.
- Focusing upon the needs of AIAN students in urban communties, where they are spread across districts, making it difficult for AIAN students to feel a sense of community. Their numbers are smaller, so the needs of these students often go unnoticed.
For American Indians, the loss of languages has been intimately tied to the loss of major parts of their culture. Conversely, current efforts being made by American Indians/Alaska Natives to maintain or recapture their languages approach a nativisticrevitalization movement. (2006)
A report from the National Council on Disability documents that American Indians and Alaska Natives with disabilities living on tribal lands were not receiving the services they were entitled. The report also found this group had the highest rate of disabilities and lowest opportunity for access to culturally sensitive programs and services of all races. This impacts special education. (August 2003)