Wise Practices for Life Promotion
Wise Practices: Indigenous Leadership for Living Life Well, is a community-led project that highlights suicide prevention initiatives thriving in communities across Canada.
Developed by Jennifer White and Ed Connors, Wise Practices strives to connect communities and build resiliency in an effort to prevent suicide in First Nations communities.
The project evolved from efforts of co-lead Jennifer White. In 2003, White published Aboriginal youth: A manual of promising suicide prevention strategies with funding from Health Canada and in collaboration with the Centre for Suicide Prevention.
The goal of Wise Practices is to “produce a useful, culturally relevant, accessible, and hopeful online resource to advance the goals of promoting life among First Nations youth in Canada” (Wise Practices, 2018).
Here are some resources shared on the site:
This five-day program introduces early intervention of substance use and is adaptable based on community needs. It is presented by two facilitators, including one that lives in the area and can provide resources to the community.
Creating Hope demonstrates how community-based initiatives are stronger when they support each other and are supported by government leaders. Indigenous youth participated in the Walk of Hope and met with a cohort of non-Indigenous students who created 1000 messages of Hope at the Assembly of First Nations Youth Summit.
Feather Carriers respond to suicide in communities by changing the focus of dialogue from illness to wellness. In becoming a Feather Carrier, one assumes the responsibility and leadership of promoting life within their community by teaching the seven stages of life.
Moteskano, Metaperotin and Mahikan
Journeying on traditional territory, this program combines snowshoeing, canoeing and creative audiovisual productions to foster and strengthen relationships within the community.
Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) Youth Action Councils
Youth-led and community supported, each PAGC chapter has a unique set of goals and objectives. However, all focus on supporting healthy, vibrant, and safe communities.
With youth-led project Reimagining Attawapiska, youth share their lens on the community through a means of photography, essays, videos and music.
Aboriginal Support and Critical Incident Response Team’s (ASCIRT) seeks to increase awareness and knowledge about suicide prevention strategies. Natural helpers offer support in times of crisis and work to create purpose and resiliency in youth.
Check out the Wise Practices website for a more in depth look of each program.
Reference
Wise Practices. (2018). Project summary. Retrieved from https://wisepractices.ca/project-summary/