Canada’s First Family
Attawapiskat
First Nation
Northern Ontario
Where the compass
Points
They die there
At their own hand
Killing the present
The future and
Relation to the
Past
Rich culture made
Impoverished
Reservation life
Ten times more
The young men
Die, for women
Twenty-one times
A child of nine
An elder seventy-
One
A tear (a rush)
A tear (in tragic
Sadness) of
Counselors
Has been hurried
There, but where
Is the missing
Part of life
What will
Resolve the hole
Of promises
Where harsh
Unappealing life
Without prospect
Fifteen living in
A house for
Three or four
Community
Structure minimal
And faulty
A solution is re-
Connection to
Heritage
A renewed climb
To meet sibling
Spirits in the
Skies
Yet once on
Earth again how
Does renewed
Tradition survive
In mortal people
Pushed to the
Edge
Forced into
Living prepared
To push over
The government
Hears; maybe it
Sends the staff
But will it in
Fate complete
The rift of a
Spirit-people
Needing better
Earth to walk
Upon
Notes
U. S. Suicide Rate Surges to a 30-Year High
by Sabrina Tavernise, 22 April 2016
WASHINGTON — Suicide in the United States has surged to the highest levels in nearly 30 years, a federal data analysis has found, with increases in every age group except older adults. The rise was particularly steep for women. It was also substantial among middle-aged Americans, sending a signal of deep anguish from a group whose suicide rates had been stable or falling since the 1950s.
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