The Nisga’a Community Response Team has been established to address the issues related to suicide prevention, intervention and post-intervention. Team members acquired the necessary knowledge and skills during a two week workshop. The first session was held at the Trinity Church November 24 – 28 and the second at the Nisg-a’a Lisims Government chambers December 8 -12. The workshops were coordinated by Brent Adams and facilitated by Darien Thira.

Twenty Nisga’a participated in the sessions. All four villages were represented. Participants included employees from the NVHA clinics, Village Governments and youth and elders from the general public.

The workshop three major goals were to:

• develop the necessary knowledge and skills;
• mobilize community change; and
• establish community resources to address issues.

The workshop’s first week—Through the Pain—offers an introduction to the knowledge, skills, and strategies necessary for community-based suicide prevention.The goals of the second week of the workshop— Opening the Circle: Community-Based Crisis Intervention—are to:

• provide essential knowledge, strategies and techniques to respond to crisis as a psychological and socio-historic problem;
• offer and practice two cultural approaches to crisis counselling with specific techniques;
• offer the understanding and skill necessary to respond to inter-generational and long-term trauma reactions‚Äìspecifically to support those struggling with: anxiety/addiction, depression/grief/suicide, and rage/lateral violence;and
• develop a core group of skilled and resilient individuals who can assist individuals in crisis and who are prepared to operate as a Community Response Team.

Thira’s workshops are culturally sensitive and reinforce the knowledge, skills and strategies that could be found in our communities since before contact.

Alvin Wright, Recreation Director for the New Aiyansh Village Government,  volunteered for this training. Like other community members of New Aiyansh, he was very concerned about what was happening to the youth and community members in crisis. “From the skills that I have learned from this workshop, I can now recognize people in distress and be able to assess the situation and provide assistance” Alvin states. “Before this program, I was very afraid and confused about the situation and really didn’t know what to say or do”. In his capacity as Recreation Director, he interacts with community members of all ages at the recreation centre. He stated that the New Aiyansh youth requested the recreation facility to be open longer into the night to give them a place to go on the weekends. “Through minimal direction, we developed a structured program called Youth Off The Streets (YOTS) that is helping youth build on the most important component our community and our nation—our self esteem.

The team graduated on Friday, December 12, 2008. Participants are certified to go out and work with youth and community members in the valley on suicide prevention, intervention and post-intervention.