"Rosebud is not the first South Dakota Indian reservation to struggle with a deeply troubling suicide epidemic among its youth. Standing Rock, Crow Creek, Cheyenne River - each tribe has lost far too many children in recent years.

But the scope of Rosebud's problem with suicide is shocking: a suicide rate of 141 per 100,000 people, compared to a national rate of 11 or 12 per 100,000.

The numbers describe the problem, but they do not explain its causes. Nor do they catalog the terrible web of lasting effects each successive tragedy brings upon families and friends. Those effects are too real and serve to perpetuate the problem. Suicide, we know, begets more suicide.

The roots of this circumstance are too deep to remove in a month, a year or even a decade: crushing poverty; an overmatched education system; a long-ago loss of traditional values.

But awakened to this crisis, we all must take any available steps to solve it. Already, tribes and government agencies are working to curb this horrifying trend."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Work to solve suicide crisis (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/25)

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