Battling HIV/AIDS and suicide among Native youth

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Battling HIV/AIDS and suicide among Native youth


Battling HIV/AIDS and suicide among Native youth
Teens invited to Pawnee fundraiser, Indian child welfare group
encourages health awareness day

Sam Lewin 4/17/2006

nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7765
<http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7765>

Events taking place in the next month aim to spotlight to two issues
that health officials say do not get enough attention in Indian Country:
HIV and AIDS and teen suicide.

In Pawnee an HIV/AIDS prevention group is hosting a "BUH"
session. BUH stands for Battling stigma Uniting Indian youth against
HIV/AIDS.

"We're going to get the word on HIV/AIDS prevention out to our
children," said June Hamilton, committee organizer for PANI HOPE, the
organization sponsoring the event.

The BUH takes place Saturday, May 6, at the Pawnee Multi-Purpose room.
The event is replete with cultural performances, including the Riverside
Apache Fire Dancers. Officials say they will give a cash prize to the
family that comes costumed in the most traditional dress. Students from
boarding schools Riverside Indian School in Anadarko and Sequoyah High
School in Tahlequah are also slated to attend.

For more information call Hamilton at [phone].

The Pawnee event takes place about a month after the United Methodist
Native American International Caucus and the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention held what is believed to be the first-ever national
conference for Native youth addressing AIDS and HIV awareness and
prevention.

"If one youth becomes HIV infected, it puts the whole community at
risk," said the Rev. Alvin Deer, the Creek/Kiowa head of the caucus. "We
feel that this potential community endangerment is more dangerous to our
communities than, say, us worrying whether the bird flu will come to
America."

Two days after the Pawnee BUH is National Children's Mental Health
Awareness Day, May 8. Officials with the National Indian Child Welfare
Association, a group with the stated mission of being "dedicated to
the well-being of all American Indian children and families," are
encouraging tribes to use the day to address the high rate of suicide
among Native youngsters.

American Indian and Alaska Natives youth have a 2.5 times higher rate of
suicide compared with that of other young people, according to a report
from Indian Health Service.

"I does not have to be this way," said Terry Cross, the Seneca
executive director of the association. "Many of the resources need
to bring change are within the families and the youths themselves. In
every Indian community there are concerned and caring advocates that can
and do make a difference, and many tribal communities are taking
advantage of a federal grant program to accomplish more positive
outcomes for their children."

Cross said that over the past decade the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration has awarded grants to almost 40 different
American Indian and Alaska Native area to improve the lives of
youngsters and their families.

The association's website is www.nicwa.org, and their number is
[phone].


You can reach Sam Lewin at [e-mail]