Researcher studies Inuit suicide rates
Last Updated: Friday, October 13, 2006 | 11:12 AM CT
CBC News
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An Iqaluit researcher is looking to the circumpolar world for answers to the high rate of suicide among Nunavut's Inuit.
By studying historical trends from Alaska to Greenland, Jack Hicks hopes to identify factors connected to suicide.
Statistics show the number of suicides started to climb at different times, depending on factors such as when the regions were colonized, he said.
The transition started first in Alaska in the 1960s. In Greenland it occurred in the late '70s and '80s and then moved on to Nunavut.
"In northern Quebec, Nunavik has a suicide rate 50 per cent higher than ours in Nunavut, but Cree with whom they share a land claim do not. They have essentially national levels of suicide," Hicks said.
"So there's all kinds of facts which, if pulled together, I think you can begin to paint a more informed picture of what's been happening here in the last 20 years."
A second research project, in conjunction with Montreal's McGill University, is following up with the families and friends of Nunavut suicide victims to find out more.
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