Indigenous suicide, substance abuse, drop out rates worldwide
Throughout our big wide world there are many, many indigenous nations that have been taken over and colonized. Some lucky ones have managed to stay uncontacted, but for the rest of the world things have not worked out that way. Some of the worst statistics come from the main countries that have been affected by colonization, Australia, Hawaii, New Zealand, The United States, and Canada.
Hawaii
First, Yes technically Hawaii is part of the United States, but it wasn’t always that way. Hawaii was once it’s own place until settlers found their way to it and decided that it would be their claimed territory in 1898. To start off our statistics on a slight good note, graduation rates have started to rise in indigenous youths over the past eight years, moving from 10.3% to 32.3%. As well as the overall grad rates hit a new all time high at 35.2%, surpassing the 2017 record of 34%. With 79.1% of students returning for their sophomore year, which replaces the old rate of 76.6%.
Moving onto the substance abuse statistics, there is a 2.3-3% of misuse rate of alcohol, 20.2% misuse of drugs in females, and 27.9% misuse in males. With a 5-6% rate for alcohol dependence. There is also a significantly higher rate of taking a drink in the morning to “steady nerves” or to get rid of a hangover, that percent being 3.7%, than non natives who’s percent comes up to 1.3%. The overall suicide rate for indigenous hawaiians is 12.9% which is quite a bigger number compaired to the 9.6% of the non natives residing in Hawaii.
Australia
Australia has almost all of their indigenous statistics higher than the rest of the non natives in everything except for one subject. Their dropout rate has been increasing quite well over the past ten years, going from 47.2% in 2008, to 62.4% in 2017, with the dropout rate in non natives being 86%. Substance Abuse in Indigenous Australians is 27% which may not seem that high but compared to the non native rate of 15.3% it is quite a significant difference. The suicude rate in this country is a very sad one, with indigenous rates being 21.4% and non natives being 10.3%. These rates could be seen as not that bad seeing as the substance abuse rate being 5.6% higher, but this really is an unspeakable tragedy. The Torres Strait Islander people are just 2.8% of the Australian population, but one in every 4 Australian children that dies was indigenous. The suicude rate is 20% higher than non native people. As well as almost half of all of Austrailia’s child suicide have been Indigenous children.
95%
6
Times greater: The likelihood that Aboriginal people commit suicide, compared to non-Aboriginal people. The Kimberley region has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. [2]
50%
Proportion of suicides in the Northern Territory which were Aboriginal in 2010. Same figure for 1991: 5% [3].
143
Number of threatened, attempted or completed suicides in an Aboriginal community of 5,500 people in 2007 and 2008 [4].
30
Number of young people in every 100,000 who commit suicide in the Northern Territory. Same figure for New South Wales: 1 in 100,000 [5].
$700
Alleged price of a bottle of alcohol on the black market. Alcohol is a common factor in suicides [4].
75%
80%
Percentage of suicides of youth aged 10 to 24 in 2011 where the victim was Aboriginal. Same figure for 1991: 10% [3].
40%
4.9%
Percentage of Aboriginal deaths which are from suicide in 2014; in 2012: 4.5% [8]; in 2011: 4.2%. Figure for non-Aboriginal Australians in 2011: 1.5% [9].
140
Number of estimated annual Aboriginal suicides in Australia in 2014; in 2012: 120 [8]; for the years 2001 to 2010: 100 (reported average) [10].
117
70
Suicides per 100,000 people in 2014 in the Kimberley; overall national rate: 11; world’s highest overall national rate (Guyana, South America): 44 [11].
2.7
Times higher: Levels of psychological stress among the Aboriginal population aged 18 and over, compared to the non-Aboriginal community [12].
New Zealand
New Zealand was a bit tougher to find accurate information that was solid and not this is what I’m saying take my word for it. From what has been able to be gathered, the graduation rate has been going up recently and the country is working towards more ways to help them to continue rising. The substance abuse is said to be higher in indigenous people there than the non natives, which is not hard to believe when we look at the rates in the other colonized countries. The suicide rates were ones that were able to have actually numbers found. 75% of suicides were people under 35 years and younger, the suicide rate amoung the Maori people has remained 1.6 times the rate of non indigenous people. With 52.% in indigenous males, 23.1% indigeous females, and 13.7% with non indigenous males, and 5.5% non indignous females.
Canada & The United States of America
Canada and the States are well known for being slightly similar and some kind of friends. There is more that they have in common though, for instance many of these rates with the indigenous people are quite similar, and they both have very similar pasts with the treatment of the indigenous people. The first countries statistics that will be focused on is the States, their rates are slightly harder to find but given that that country likes to try to subside things usually. The suicide rates for indigenous people is 39.7 per 100,000, and for non indigenous 9.9 per 100,000. Substance among indigenous 12.3% compared to the non indigenous rate of 9.5%, and finally drop out rates for indigenous peoples there are 10.1% the lowest out of all of the countries mentioned, with the non indigenous rate being 4.3%. Now moving onto Canada, First Nations people die by suicide 3 times the rate of non indigenous, Inuit people are 9 times the rate, and Metis are 2 times the rate. Inuit people have one of the highest suicide rate in the world, the suicide rate for indigenous people overall is 24.3 per 100,000, with the non indigenous being 8.0 per 100,000. Moving onto substance abuse rates, 94% of indigenous women reported to using drugs and alcohol at a younger age compared to non indigenous women. The substance abuse rate for indigenous mn living on reserve is 66%, while the rate for non indigenous men is 76%. Dropout rates for indigenous people in Canada is pretty high unfortunately, coming in second for the worst behind Australia, at 43%, with the non indigenous being only at 15%.
Connections
So why are all these numbers mind boggling, and sometimes hard to read? What is the problem connecting all of these countries to these statistics? When will these numbers finally turn around? What can we do to help? Well to start, there is a connection between these countries and it’s not hard to see what it is, each of them were beautifully inhabited by their respective indigenous groups of people who were peacefully existing. The treatment of these indigenous people were obviously not very good as some people know, and if you look into it enough it is not hard to see that the connect between these countries is that they were all victims of colonization, and that they are all feeling the after effects caused by it. While the situation between these countries are indeed very sad, there is an upside, in a lot of these places the graduation rate is up from the last few years and looks like it is still heading for improvement. So despite the tough situations these people have to go through, they are working hard to undo all of the harm inflicted on them, and will continue to improve these rates and try to get back to a happy, healthy way of living that they’ve always wanted.
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