The Sioux Falls Argus Leader is running a three-part series on youth suicide on South Dakota's reservations.

The suicide rate among American Indians and Alaska Natives is four to five times higher than the national average. In South Dakota, the numbers are even higher, according to the Indian Health Service.

Among youth of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, the rate in 2007 was 141 per 100,000 people, nearly 12 times the national average. "It is an epidemic," President Rodney Bordeaux told the paper.

The series looks at the ways tribal leaders, health officials, parents and youth are tackling the problem. Youth say their peers don't see a positive future in their lives.

The first two parts were published over the weekend.

Get the Story:
Why are young Lakota killing themselves? (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/21)
Despite stable home, teen chose death (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/21)
Searching for solutions (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/21)
'An escape from this hell' (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/22)
For troubled girl, suicide seemed like end to suffering (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/22)
Searching for solutions (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/22)