By Alysa Landry, The Daily Times
Article Launched: 05/08/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT

SHIPROCK — A heavy silver pendant dangles from a chain around Harlee Case's neck.

The pendant, a tiny image of the Hindu deity Ganesh, is a constant companion to the 14-year-old freshman at Shiprock High School.

"Ganesh is fierce on the outside, but he's a lotus blossom on the inside," Case said Wednesday during a suicide prevention workshop at the high school. "I'm a lot like Ganesh."

Case lost her father in Iraq, she said, and she struggles to find an outlet for the deep anger and sadness that sometimes threaten to overwhelm her.

"I get so stressed about what is going on in my family and with my friends," she said. "I want to learn how to not keep my anger and feelings bottled up inside, but to let them out."

Case was one of about 100 freshmen and sophomores to attend the two-day suicide prevention workshop, a first of its kind in Shiprock, facilitator Clayton Small said.

Small developed a suicide prevention curriculum geared specifically toward American Indian students. His program, Helping Our People

Endure, or HOPE, is used in educational settings to help students both embrace and break away from their native cultures.

Returning to the positive aspects of native culture can have a healing effect, Small said. Spirituality, ceremonies and talking with elders all can help at-risk teens rise above their challenges.

"This program really focuses on strengths," he said. "The greatest source of strength is the culture."

Talking about death is taboo in many American Indian cultures, yet Small is calling on youth to speak up when they spot the warning signs of suicide in themselves or their peers.

"I want to get people to acknowledge that talking about suicide is no different than getting your eyes, ears or throat checked when you're sick," he said. "We need to get out of this denial mode."

Teens are no strangers to stresses like drug use, poverty, unplanned pregnancies, mental illnesses, violence and trauma, Small said, and it's impossible to talk about suicide without first addressing the factors that can lead to it.
"It's hard to talk about suicide," said Shawntina Thompson, 15, a freshman at Shiprock High School. "There are people who deal with drugs and alcohol and self-injury. It's better to be able to let the stress out, or it builds up into more stress until you want to do something crazy."

An estimated 80 percent of all people who commit suicide told at least one person, Small said, and he is encouraging students to break the "code of silence" and direct their peers toward people and resources that can help.

Learning to help others was Santana Tunney's goal when he decided to attend the suicide prevention workshop. Tunney, a 15-year-old freshman at Shiprock High School, said he experiences stress from peer pressure and family conflicts.
"I came to this to let some things go, to get some weight off my chest," he said. "I also learned things about leadership and how to spot the different signs of someone who is considering suicide."

The goal of the workshop, Small said, was to forge a connection between the youth and community resources.

"This is not a one-time thing," he said. "This is about creating a safe place for kids to talk, and having people available in the community to help them."
American Indians between the ages of 15 and 34 are at the highest risk of suicide in the nation. The suicide rate among American Indian youth is nearly 2.5 times the national rate, according to data collected by the American Indian/Alaska Native National Resource Center for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services.

copyright 2008, Daily Times