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Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Struggles With Suicides Among Its Young
May 1, 2015/
Since December, nine people between 12 and 24 years old have killed themselves on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota, and dozens of others have tried, but failed.
A few days before Christmas, Santana Janis, a 12-year-old Lakota Indian, decided that she did not want to live anymore.
A bright, outgoing girl with a shy smile and passion for horseback riding, Santana’s moods had turned dark. She lived in a derelict two-bedroom trailer with a grandfather, Earl Tall, and as many as a dozen siblings and cousins. Her mother, an alcoholic, was an intermittent presence in her life. Their town, Manderson, was torn by drinking, fighting and violence.
By JULIE BOSMAN
