"I took the opportunity of AFN this year to convene a field hearing through the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, with the intent of taking our dialogue on Native youth suicide to a next phase, one of informed national involvement. We in Alaska have been living with the harrowing reality for years, but I wanted to bring a Senate spotlight to our soil to fully bring about movement to fight this epidemic. And the focus lasted beyond that single event. Following the hearing, First Alaskans Institute helped facilitate a community visioning dialogue that focused on youth leadership development -- to empower the brothers, sisters and friends of our most vulnerable Alaskans. The following Tuesday, I spoke at the Alaska Area Action Summit for Suicide Prevention, a group that included many of the same dedicated people who participated in the field hearing.

Now that Elders and Youth, AFN, and the Suicide Action Summit have concluded, the time for difficult, honest work has begun. We must harvest positive results from the troubling words and anecdotes shared. But the path ahead has tangible, attainable goals we can begin working towards.

My field hearing generated a number of concrete steps that are worth pursuing. Evon Peter, former Chief of the Neetsaii Gwich’in, now director of the Maniilaq Youth Leadership program, suggested we need to be more invested in healing, wellness and leadership development initiatives. Tessa Baldwin, a senior at Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, who founded Hope4Alaska, suggested we create a database of statewide events, programs and groups, to help people learn about efforts that are showing signs of success."

Get the Story:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski: The road ahead: Reflections on Native suicide summits (The Sitka News 11/7)