Native-led coalition says community involvement supports youth mental health
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September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Ain Dah Yung Center’s American Indian Metro Suicide Prevention Coalition recognized Thursday as Indigenous Youth Suicide Prevention Day with proclamations from the state and city of St. Paul.
The coalition brings together Indigenous community members, organizations, service providers and partners to strengthen suicide prevention across the Twin Cities metro area.
Coalition leader and Ain Dah Yung Center’s suicide prevention coordinator Bryce Premo says the day aims to strengthen community and its role in the lives of Indigenous youth. He says the proclamations “belong to everyone.”
“You don't have to be a therapist or a suicide prevention professional to be a part of prevention. You can be a relative who checks in, a coach who notices somebody is struggling,” Premo said. “Or an elder who shares knowledge with the youth, or an organization that creates space where young people know they belong.”
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According to the 2025 Minnesota Student Survey, Indigenous youth in Minnesota experience suicidal ideation at rates nearly twice that of their peers. The demographic has the highest rate of suicide when compared to their peer groups.
School psychologist Tascha Just is a part of the coalition. She says prevention begins with empowering youth identity and sense of belonging through various means, such as cultural resources.
“Thinking about frameworks like the Ojibwe grandfather teachings and thinking about how we can implement different cultural teachings into everyday life,” Just said.
The American Indian Metro Suicide Prevention Coalition focuses on three protective factors: positive identity, empowerment and positive community relationships.
The group represents these factors through an analogy of the three sisters, a trio of main agricultural crops across many Indigenous communities in the United States. The trio consists of corn, beans and squash.
“The collaboration that we see within nature, we can imitate in human activities,” Just said.
Premo says each protective factor is represented by a crop. Positive identity is represented through corn, which grows strong and tall. Empowerment is squash, which grows on the ground and protects the other crops through its foliage. Positive community relationships are represented by beans, which grow together in a pod. When planted together, the trio contributes to each other’s growth.
“That’s the kind of community we're trying to strengthen,” Premo said. “When we're working with those three protective factors—positive identity, empowerment, or positive community relationships—you're working in prevention already.”
Premo says one way the coalition practices community involvement in youth lives is through its Native Youth Resources guide. The second edition features artwork from Ain Dah Yung Center residents. The center serves Indigenous youth, and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Their coalition’s logo was also designed by youth.
“It's that empowering moment when youth feel like — You know, what I created matters,” Premo said. “I feel like that’s a powerful event for everyone involved.”
If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Call or text 988 to get connected with trained counselors. The 988 suicide and crisis lifeline is available 24/7.
Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities.
