Armed with a drum, long ribbon skirt, and braided hair, Andria Dyer highlighted an important day for mental health awareness in Chatham-Kent.
"One hair can easily break. But many hairs braided together are very strong which is always why I have my spirit braid in," said Dyer.
This week is mental health awareness week across the country and on Monday around 100 people gathered outside city hall as a show of support for all who live with mental illness. Dyer, a constable with Chatham-Kent Police Service, said she is currently on leave because of her mental illness.
Getting up this morning was tough for Dyer, an Ojibway woman, but she powered through and delivered a song of strength from her Indigenous roots. She called Monday's ceremony a huge achievement.
"For myself, being here to be able to sing for everybody and just stand up and say 'we can [break the stigma],'" said Dyer.
Chatham-Kent raised the mental health awareness flag for the 8th time on Monday outside of city hall. (Photo by Michael Hugall)
In 2016, the Public Health Agency of Canada identified suicide as one of the leading causes of death among First Nations people up to age 44. In addition, the suicide rate for First Nations males aged 15 to 24 is 126 per 100,000. That compares to 24 per 100,000 for non-Indigenous males in the same age bracket. Inuit young people in Canada have the highest suicide rate at 11 times the national average.
While growing up on the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation near London, Dyer said mental health resources were not readily available to her.
"I don't remember mental health being one of the supporting systems that we have now. I did lose a lot of family to suicide, so to me that shows there weren't enough resources growing up," said Dyer. "Now there are so many supports out there and people are seeing [mental health in Indigenous communities] as serious and not just pushing them to the sidelines."
Monday marked the 8th annual mental health awareness flag raising in Chatham-Kent and mayor Darrin Canniff says breaking the stigma around mental health continues to be important for the region.
"So many people suffer from it and we need to bring mental illness to a forefront," said Canniff. "In Chatham-Kent, we need to look at it the same way we would look at someone who has a physical injury... it's one and the same."
Constable Andria Dyer honours the raising of a flag dedicated to mental health awareness with a song of strength from her Ojibway roots. pic.twitter.com/Ws9hE6zheQ
— Michael Hugall (@MichaelHugall) May 6, 2019