Young people on a First Nations reserve in Nova Scotia devoted a weekend youth rally to helping their community heal after a series of recent teen suicides.

Four young people in their teens and early 20s from Eskasoni in Cape Breton have killed themselves since the beginning of 2009.

The highlight of the four-day rally was a Saturday evening event, where some of Canada's well-known and accomplished aboriginal people took part in a discussion about moving the community forward.

Olympian Waneek Horn Miller, from the Mohawk nation in Quebec, spoke about her past.

"I can remember feeling so sad that I never wanted to open my eyes again," said Miller. "When you're going through times of trauma you're going to remember the blood that runs in you, your people that you come from. Don't give up."

As a 14-year-old in 1990, Miller was stabbed in fighting during the Oka Crisis conflict in Quebec. She told the crowd Saturday that many members of her community took their own lives after the conflict.

Despite her past, Miller, co-captain of Canada's water polo team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, said she never lost sight of her goal to be in the Olympics. Miller encouraged the young people at the rally to continue to set their own goals.

"You have all the possibilities to do everything you've ever wanted. And when someone here is up there at the Grammys, accepting a Grammy for best rap album, you better say thank you to that ancestor."

Britney Pullet, 14, lives in Eskasoni and attended the rally. She told CBC News that hearing an athlete such as Miller speak was encouraging.

"They just inspired me to do what I want to do and I like doing sports and judo and I want to get far with that, just like Waneek, she's cool," Pullet said. "I look farther and see where I can possibly get to one day."

The second annual Eskasoni Youth Rally will conclude Monday with spiritual and cultural ceremonies including prayers of healing.