The psychiatric & sociocultural risk factors for suicide & their implications for suicide prevention among the Atayal & Ami peoples in Taiwan were studied. A matched case-control study with biographical reconstructive intervention was conducted for 60 aboriginal suicides in East Taiwan. The higher sucide rate found among the Atayal is speculated to relate to their higher prevalences of alcoholism, emotionally unstable personality disorder, lower degrees of acculturation & weaker family support.