Ending Indigenous Suicide: Understanding Food and Land Systems as Fundamental to Indigenous Livelihoods

• In Event: Research for Survivance: Indigenous Educational Praxis

Abstract

Colonial trauma poses a significant risk to the physical, intellectual, and mental health of Indigenous students. Comprehensive semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 tribal members. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Both an inductive data analysis based on grounded theory as well as a deductive approach based on a priori assumptions related to settler colonial theory were conducted. The deductive analysis centered on explanations for suicide rooted in disruptions to 1) relationships with the land and 2) traditional food systems. Members presented the disruption to food and land systems as reasons for suicide in their community. Settler colonialism ensures the collective capacity of the settlers while disrupting the collective continuance of Indigenous people.

Authors

• Emma Elliott-Groves, University of Washington - Seattle

• Megan Bang, Spencer Foundation and Northwestern University