Connection to land, culture and community is key to improving mental health for Indigenous youth, says University of Fraser Valley (UFV) associate professor Dr. Wenona Hall.

Hall is a professor of Indigenous studies and a member of the St贸:lo Nation. She says her initial reaction to the on youth and youth adult injury reports from First Nations Health Authority and B.C. Coroners Service is an emotional one.

鈥淚 am St贸:lo, my family is impacted,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you鈥檒l find a single St贸:lo family that isn鈥檛 impacted either directly or indirectly because we鈥檙e all related and interconnected.

鈥淭hese statistics represent lives,鈥� she adds. 鈥淸This] points to the severity of the situation and the fact that it really is, in my opinion, a crisis and everybody should be on board.鈥�

Ceremony Marks Expert Panel Report Recommendations to Prevent First Nations Youth Injury and Deaths in BC:

鈥� FNHA (@fnha)

In the report, Fraser Health displays a startling gap in the rate of First Nations suicides for the region, with 81.3 for every seven non-first nation suicides 鈥� the largest gap by a longshot compared to reports from the Interior, Island, Northern and Vancouver Coastal health authorities.

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Hall says connection to land, community and culture are vital for mental health in Indigenous youth. She says three factors need to be addressed to fix the complex issue illustrated by the report: land rights for Indigenous peoples; abolishment of the Indian Act, which dictates land-use permits and land management; and the upholding of laws from government and courts or a federally adopted 鈥渄ecolonizing policy.鈥�

Proper term is unceded territory

鈥� Wenona Hall (@WenonaV)

鈥淚 think one of the things that will drastically reduce these statistics for the government and the courts is if we have political and legal recognition of our title to our land 鈥� all our land, not just these pitiful little postage stamp reserves,鈥� Hall says.

鈥淎ll of this land belongs to the St贸:lo people and that needs to be politically and legally recognized,鈥� she adds. 鈥淎nd then we, and especially our kids, need unrestricted access to that land.鈥�

A report from the House of Commons on the Standing Committee of Indigenous and Northern Affairs reads that 鈥渁 proper understanding of the conditions which cause mental distress and suicide is essential in preventing suicide from taking place 鈥︹��

One of those conditions, according to Hall, is the legal restrictions put on fishing and general access to the land.

鈥淥ur land is our number one resource, and our kids don鈥檛 have access to the land,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 where our health and well being is grounded 鈥� in our ability to go into the mountains, in our ability to get onto the rivers and the lakes and the streams. The ability to hunt, the ability to fish. That is all mental health and well-being to us.

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鈥淭he settler society doesn鈥檛 really have a connection to culture, so they have a hard time understanding what we mean by that word. Like what our drum means to us, what our song means to us. We can鈥檛 have our culture without our land.鈥�

Ts'elweyeqw Territory 馃挄

鈥� Wenona Hall (@WenonaV)

But the St贸:lo people, Hall says, are strong and resilient.

鈥淲e have survived here 鈥� for thousands and thousands of years. We have survived earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, famines, floods, colonialism 鈥� you name it.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know too many people that would be able to survive this generational trauma of residential schools and the Indian Act and the [entire] system.鈥�