Alaska Natives attended a listening forum on suicide in Anchorage on Tuesday.

Participants said their communities are being devastated by suicide. Rob Sanderson Jr. said 25 people have taken their lives in Hydaburg, population 340.

"I've lost three of my best friends that were in my class," Sanderson said, The Anchorage Daily News.

A man from Toksook Bay reported more than two dozen suicides in the past two years. "A lot of our young people are really lonely, even with all of the modern technology and Facebook," said Janice Jackson of Ketchikan, the paper reported.

The session was hosted by the Indian Health Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Six more meetings are being held this month and in January and February 2011.

Get the Story:
Villagers plead for suicide prevention help (The Anchorage Daily News 12/1)