Wapekeka suicides: a survivor of a 'pact' speaks out

After six months away from her community, 14-year-old Jordan said she wanted to come home, but sitting in a black hoodie on a picnic table by Wapekeka's lake, she knows there are dangers here.

CBC News has agreed not to use Jordan's real name because of potential repercussions in the community.

"I guess I was just really down, I thought I wouldn't make it because I thought I would just kill myself," she said.

The teen considers herself lucky to be alive. 

Jordan is one of a group of young people in Wapekeka who had formed a suicide pact last summer. But she says the problems started long before that when she was about nine years old.  She was getting teased about the colour of her skin — it was too "brown."

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She attempted suicide and started cutting herself. 

"These were over a boy," she said, pointing to scars on her forearms. "So stupid, and these were just suicidal thoughts."  There are scars on her legs as well. 

On January 8, Jordan's life spiralled out of control.  Her friend Jolynn Winter, at only 12 years old, died by suicide. Only two days later, Chantel Fox also took her own life. She was also 12 years old.

Jordan was quickly identified as being a high suicide risk.  She was flown out of Wapekeka to receive mental health treatment in Ottawa and Winnipeg. Months of intense therapy, she said, have helped. Her family's love is what keeps her going. 

Jordan came back to the community on Saturday, almost two weeks after a third friend, Jenera Roundsky, ended her young life. When asked if she feels strong enough to be back in a community in turmoil, two weeks after the death of another girl — her cousin — she answers that she's not sure yet.  

She might need extra help at some point and will reach out, she said, adding that she wants to face her problems at home, with her family and friends. She also wants to learn how to play the guitar and has already started writing songs, mainly about the future and how to let go of the past. 

3 students in less than 6 months

Two weeks ago, Jenera Roundsky ended her life in the warming huts at the community ice rink. She was the third student at Rev. Eleazar Winter Memorial School to die by suicide since the beginning of the year.

Principal Ivan Sakakeep was one of the first people on the scene.  He performed CPR but it was too late.

"Time stood still," in those moments when Jenera was found and when he tried to bring her back to life, he said. "It will stay with me forever."

Sakakeep knew Jenera well. She was not only a student at the school but she was also a family friend.

She would come around the house often and play with Greyboots, his dog. He said he remembers a soft and kind girl who loved animals.

"I don't know if the proper word is epidemic," he said of the suicides. "I don't know why it's just going on."

Sakakeep wants it to stop. 

A lost generation

To reach Wapekeka's cemetery in the summer, the easiest way is by boat. Georgina Winter and her son Scott started up the motor and got in.

The boat ride didn't take long — about five minutes — just enough time to take in the beautiful northern scenery. 

The grandmother, or kookum in Oji-Cree, which is the main language spoken in Wapekeka, picked up a flower as soon as she arrived close to her granddaughter's resting place. Colourful silk flowers were scattered around the cemetery, likely dispersed by a gust of wind.

As she stood there, she remembered the last time her community was in crisis over suicides, back in the 1990's.

Fifteen people took their own lives over a 10-year span.

"I'm hoping this doesn't happen anymore, losing a generation of them, that's what happened last time," she said. "They could have been adults by now."

A legacy of abuse

Joshua Frogg, the community's band manager, starts his days off by smudging. "It keeps the bad spirits away," he said.

Wapekeka's leadership declared a state of emergency in the wake of the three suicides, asking for more money and resources to make sure kids are safe, and no other lives are taken.

People in Wapekeka are tired, Frogg said.

"Some people walk around at night to make sure they're (the youth) are safe and they (concerned residents) come to work and they're not functioning," he said. "I would like them to be relieved at night at least."

A history of abuse — from residential schools to one of Canada's most prolific pedophiles, Ralph Rowe — is partly to blame. "His hand, his work, is amongst my people, people I love," Frogg said.

"Some of them took their lives because they couldn't live with the pain."

Moving forward

Plans are underway to address the suicide crisis in the community.

Health Canada just delivered on its promise to provide $380,000 in enhanced funding until 2019 and about 15 Canadian Rangers have been patrolling the streets of Wapekeka at night to ensure everyone is safe.

The group also plans to organize activities for youth by "taking them out on the land," said Barry Borton, an instructor with the Rangers.

Crisis teams are also in the community, meeting with youth on a regular basis. Community leaders said Wapekeka will move forward with its plans to hold their Survivors of Suicide Conference, an event that started in the wake of the 1990s suicide crisis, and one that was held annually before funding was cut two years ago.

The community also has plans to build a new youth center and invest in sports programming to keep Wapekeka's children and teenagers busy and safe.