Canada's Arctic Bedevilled By Suicide
Rate...04/21/00
Could the magnetic shift via solar flares play a role? Mitch
IQALUIT, Nunavut, (Reuters) - Less than 50 years ago, suicide was virtually unknown among the Inuit of Canada's Arctic. Now they are killing themselves at a rate six times the national average.
Hardly a week goes by in Nunavut -- the huge new territory Canada created a year ago to give the Inuit more control over their own affairs -- without news of a suicide attempt.
What makes this epidemic especially surprising is that the Inuit were noted for their incredible mental toughness during the many centuries they spent living off the land in one of the world's most inhospitable climates.
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