It's incomprehensible how a child can take her own life. Back in March, news broke that a ten-year-old girl had committed suicide in the remote Aboriginal community of Looma, in the Kimberley.
She had compounded trauma and hurt most of her young life as a victim of family violence, which by the age of ten became too much to bear.
Let us think about this for a moment. How did she know that suicide was an option?
Recently I spoke to Clare Wood, who has a background in remote Indigenous mental health care in the Kimberley. She said the region has such a history of suicide that people from a very young age know that people die by killing themselves.
Research indicates that knowing someone who's died by suicide increases chances of harbouring suicidal thoughts and acting on them. And statistics indicate 95 per cent of Aboriginal Australians are affected by suicide in their families, sometimes across generations. So, do the math.
The government's ambiguous and often paternalistic approach to Indigenous affairs is well established. At one end there is the forced closure of remote communities, and at the other Prime Minister Turnbull acknowledging the suggestion from Aboriginal leaders: Do things with us and not to us.
Narungga Elder, Tauto Sansbury in his searing response to the PM's Closing the Gap speech in February, said that the 'gap' would always remain unless the state and federal governments 'gave up their missionary approach to Indigenous affairs'. He called for recognition of the reality of the everyday life of Indigenous people.
Community and family are central to this. It's no surprise, because it is the tight-knitedness of community or family circles that is often the refuge for those struggling with trauma.
"People were different when they were out on country than when they were in the confines of the community. A lot more language was spoken, stories and cultural notions were shared."
Wood works as an enterprise facilitator for Enterprise Learning Projects, assisting women in remote communities in Kalumburu, Western Australia, to set up their own businesses. She aid the women utilise their profits for cultural activities like going out to country for fishing, or for a long walk, often taking the young along.
During one visit to the community, Wood accompanied the women and noticed that people were different when they were out on country than when they were in the confines of the community. She observed that a lot more language was spoken,