Land rights are key to saving lives

Your article, Land of the Dead (Weekend, June 24), highlighted the high rate of suicide on the Tiwi islands of Australia but overlooked the commonality of these problems with many other dispossessed and disinherited tribal peoples worldwide.

Across Canada, young indigenous women are up to eight times more likely to commit suicide than non-indigenous young women. One of the highest rates is found in the Sioux Lookout Zone in Ontario where young Indian males are over 50 times more likely to commit suicide than their non-indigenous peers. More than 300 of the Guarani-Kaiow? in Brazil have committed suicide. The youngest was Luciane Ortiz, who was just nine years old.

There is often a common factor in these suicides. Many indigenous people have been evicted from their lands and denied their rights, and have suffered violence from outsiders who want their land. Dispossessed and rendered unable to live by their traditional skills, many elders become destitute, dependent on hand-outs and depressed. Alcoholism is an all-too-common outcome and the impact on children is devastating. With little hope of returning to their land or of a better life, many become suicidal. The tragic loss of young lives further traumatises the community.

It is vital that tribal peoples' land rights are recognised and that they are allowed to live as they choose. For many peoples, the only alternative is extinction.
Stephen Corry
Director, Survival International