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Mi’kmaq Nation, located in Maine’s northern most county (Aroostook County), will provide youth with substance abuse and suicide prevention programming, in collaboration with community partners that addresses the needs of community Native youth through the Mi'kmaq Nation Native Connections program. The Mi’kmaq Nation will focus on youth aged 10-24 because these youth are most in need of additional programming in our community. Services will be provided to 300+ Native youth annually with additional youth added throughout the lifetime of the project. The overarching goal of Mi’kmaq Nation’s SAMHSA Native Connection program is to increase awareness of and identification of youth at-risk of suicide, Serious mental illness (SMI herein after) and substance use via culturally responsive education, engagement in evidence based curriculum, resources and supports in an effort to reduce the impact of trauma and increase resilience. The program’s goal aligns with the community’s needs by addressing the lack of current prevention programming and responding to recent trauma of youth suicide. The goal fosters a culturally responsive model, which strengthens protective factors for Native youth.

The service area where the proposed project will take place St. Paul Island, AK, a remote, rural, Alaska Native village located on an island 300 miles from the Alaska mainland, 300 miles north of the Aleutian Chain, and 800 miles from Anchorage. This project will work with the youth tribal council group to improve the capacity of the Tribal Government to reduce risky behaviors in youth and young adults ages 10 – 24 by implementing evidence-based culturally centered community programs that address mental health disorders and reduce substance abuse and suicide attempts. Some of the projects we will include are an Elders and youth craft night with a talking circle, youth activities that the youth council determines and co-lead in a safe space that include an activity, an educational component, cooking classes, hikes. There will also be support for the youth dance group when they practice and perform in the community, and support for youth who want to learn how to participate in subsistence activities. We will also support youth travel for SAMHSA or tribal youth forum events, unity conferences with an adult chaperone if needed.