The Senate Indian Affairs Committee discussed Indian youth suicide at a field hearing in Montana on Tuesday.

The hearing was held at the Poplar High School on the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Reservation in Montana. Last year, six students committed suicide and 20 more attempted suicide.

Roxanne Gourneau, a tribal court judge, lost her 17-year-old son. He committed suicide after being sent home for allegedly violating school policy.

"Some people tell me to accept the way things are. I won't accept the death of my son until the truth is told and I have closure," Gourneau said at the hearing, the Associated Press reported.

The Indian Health Service sent a crisis team to the reservation last year but left after 90 days. Since October 2010, two more children committed suicide and 20 more have attempted suicide, according to the tribe.

Fanci Jackson, 16, told the committee she was contemplating suicide. "I thought of my mom and dad and how much they love me. And if I leave, what would they do without me? But most kids don't think," she said, the AP reported.

Get the Story:
Senate hearing in Poplar examines rash of Indian youth suicides (AP 8/10)

Committee Notice:
OVERSIGHT FIELD HEARING on "Empowering Native Youth to Reclaim their Future" (August 9, 2011)

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Witnesses: Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing in Montana (8/8)
Senate Indian Affairs Committee sets field hearing in Montana (8/4)