Suicide as a Way of Belonging: Causes and Consequences of Cluster Suicides in Aboriginal Communities

18 Pages Posted: 27 Nov 2017

See all articles by Ronald Niezen

Ronald Niezen

McGill University, Department of Anthropology

Date Written: January 2009

Abstract

Whatever insight I might have into Aboriginal suicide I acquired unintentionally during two years that I lived as an ethnographic researcher in Cross Lake, Manitoba, a northern Aboriginal reserve community. I had initially intended to do a long-­‐term study of the community’s campaign, then in its early stages, to redress grievances following from the construction of a large-­‐scale hydroelectric project in the early 1970s and from the failure of a compensation treaty, the Northern Flood Agreement, signed in 1977. The strategy of implementing the Northern Flood Agreement, mainly through petty claims of compensation for broken boat propellers caused by floating debris or snowmobiles lost or damaged in weakened ice conditions, was clearly not meeting anyone’s aspirations for the treaty’s promises of employment and community development.

Suggested Citation

Niezen, Ronald, Suicide as a Way of Belonging: Causes and Consequences of Cluster Suicides in Aboriginal Communities (January 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3075644 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3075644

Ronald Niezen (Contact Author)

McGill University, Department of Anthropology ( email )

3644 Peel Street
Montreal H3A 1W9, Quebec
Canada

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