One video, he said, gave instructions on tying a hangman’s noose. Steele, who said many Native Americans traditionally believe in a “suicide spirit” similar to Slender Man, said young people had been sharing disturbing videos on Facebook that encourage suicide. “He’s appearing to these kids and telling them to kill themselves.” “They call him the Tall Man spirit,” said Chris Carey, a minister who works with youths, some of them suicidal, on the reservation. Two girls in a Milwaukee suburb last summer said the character had inspired them in the attempted murder of a classmate. Several officials with knowledge of the cases said that at least one of the youths who committed suicide was influenced by Slender Man, a tall, faceless creature who appears in storytelling websites, often as a figure who stalks and kills victims. Tribe officials, clergy members and social workers say they cannot remember such a high rate of suicides and attempts in such a short period on the reservation, which is already overwhelmed with high rates of unemployment, poverty, domestic abuse and alcohol addiction. Grim-faced emergency medical workers on the reservation, which is the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined, say they have been called to the scenes of suicide attempts, sometimes several times a day. Many more youths on the reservation have tried, but failed, to kill themselves in the past several months: At least 103 attempts by people ages 12 to 24 occurred from December to March, according to the federal Indian Health Service. When Santana killed herself in February, she followed the recent suicide of a boy who attended her school, Wounded Knee, named for the 1890 massacre that occurred where the reservation stands today. In the next three months, seven more young people were found dead, including Alanie Martin, 14, who was known for her love of basketball, cheerleading and traditional Indian hand games. Two teenagers hanged themselves in December. He declared an emergency on the reservation in February. John Yellow Bird Steele, the Oglala Sioux tribe president, last week.
0 kommentar(er)
