The Kwakiutl and Quatsino First Nations are joining Gwa’sala ‘Nakwaxda’xw in a call to respond to the current mental health crisis.
In a statement, the Nations say they are working with the First Nations Health Authority to determine what supports are needed to respond to the crisis they are experiencing in their communities.
This comes after two North Island Nations declared a state of emergency last week. The elected leaders of the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw called the state of emergency after the 1,100-member community suffered another tragic loss, this time a 16-year-old.
The band council’s resolution says the purpose is to “put the world on notice that the damages from drugs and alcohol and losses of precious lives in the GNN community have reached an urgent level and that council will not allow it to continue.”
The Kwakiutl and Quatsino Nations say they spent their week looking at how they can close gaps for short-term crisis response needs and how they can bring more preventative support to their communities.
Requests put forward to Island Health include:
- Funding for each community to an on-call outreach worker for the next month
- An Island Health outreach worker to support community outreach workers
- Additional Island Health capacity to support the mental health of healthcare workers
They are also asking for a tri-nation coordinator role to coordinate crisis response on the ground and more planning for mental health.
“We are also exploring the ability to create a safe overnight crisis support space downtown for those without phones to access supports overnight,” said the Nations.
“We are seeing an amazing response from volunteers on the ground, supporting community members and sharing visions for programs from now into the future.”
The state of emergency declaration last week says in recent years there has been a “dramatic and disturbing increase in people supplying drugs and alcohol to GNN youth and members.”
They will be holding community meetings to develop an action plan and want to work with RCMP to help protect the community from drug dealers and alcohol suppliers.
With files from Grant Warkentin, Vista Radio
