Youth suicide investigation: Kaupapa Māori response filling the gap in suicide interventions in Northland

‘We are guided by the needs of whānau, not KPIs,’ a suicide intervention team leader said at a recent coroner’s inquest into suspected suicides six rangatahi aged 12 to 16. Five of them died in 2018 and one in 2020.

Over the course of four weeks, Northland Coroner Tania Tetitaha read evidence from whānau, service providers and death experts, while seeking solutions to obstacles to suicide prevention.

In the third week of the trial Te Whatu Ora gave testimony about the services it offers to the North, including Crystal Paikea, leader of Tai Tokerau’s post-intervention suicide team.

The three-person team provides direct suicide intervention support to 179,000 Northlanders and has often worked with whānau over the years.

“Building trust in a community like Te Tai Tokerau is really important,” Paikea said.

Of the six young people, five were Māori – a factor that reflects the deplorably high suicide rate among indigenous people. In 2018, Northland saw a significant increase in suicide rates followed by a decline. However, in the last financial year Northland Average was 33% higher than the national rate.

The team focuses on whānau who have recently lost someone to suicide. Sometimes this can include up to 10 of the deceased’s related associates who may be at risk.

The Tai Tokerau Suicide Team receives daily reports and works with the ‘Fusion’ stakeholder group, which connects with whānau.

The group, made up of Orangi Tamariki, the Ministry of Education, the Police and Te Whatu Ora, is meeting daily to discuss recent deaths of people under 25 and which services are best to contact whānau.

“The tangi process forces us to be present.”

“I saw with my own eyes how effective postvention is in prevention. So, while some may consider postvention services to be overdue, from my perspective postvention services represent a significant opportunity to not only support whānau through times of grief and shock, which may ultimately reduce suicide, but also an opportunity to build resilience and build pathways to healing for our whānau,” Paikea said.

“It may also mean that whānau are more likely to seek help.”

The Te Whatu Ora band supports whānau when asked to do so through the tangi process, which Paikei says is embedded in the band’s philosophy.

“I can say that attending tangi throughout my life has guided me greatly and has enabled me to support whānau through their grief. When you see people affected by suicide, it comes with a certain kind of shock and trauma.

“When we visit their homes, we are manuhiri (guests), we listen to them and hear what they need. The tangi process forces us to be present in their mourning, there is a time for crying, a time for silence and a time for humor. Our team has incorporated this practice into our approach,” Paikea said.

The team is not considered to work clinically, however Paikea believes the hauora Māori approach provides a specific type of service that mental health services cannot provide.

Often clients have negative experiences with mental health services and are discouraged from using them, and the Paikea team fills a much-needed gap.

“Sometimes people think the Māori kaupapa approach is wrong and we shouldn’t do certain things, but we are very capable.

“Whānau contact us because they trust us and we are expected to tell them to contact mental health services, but sometimes that is not the answer they need.”

Paikea said it is difficult to estimate the number of people she works with because suicide can occur at any time and affect several people, sometimes many months later.

“At first sometimes people think everything is fine, but when we schedule follow-up checks on people, they often fall apart a year later. “Over time, there are struggles that they need support with that don’t become apparent right away.”

“We need to strengthen whānau.”

The team can respond immediately to a crisis and talk to the person who may be feeling suicidal to help them get through the moment and remove any potentially troubling issues from the environment. Paikea trials stated that they were often told they were not qualified to perform them.

“An advisor is not always readily available. Māori don’t want to talk to someone who isn’t Māori, so there is a gap in access to really good quality support.

“I was once told I wasn’t qualified to do this, but that person is still alive and I still support him,” Paikea said.

When Paikea was asked how she coped with her workload, she replied “it’s intense,” but the three-person team stayed close and supported each other in the daily debrief.

“Sometimes people just need sympathy when they need it. I understand that suicidal thoughts are fleeting, they come and go.

“We need to empower whānau to support their own because we won’t always be the service that supports whānau,” Paikea told the coroner.

Coroner Tetitaha will publish his findings from the inquest into Ataria Heta Summer Mills-Metcalf, Maaia Marshall, Martin Loeffen-Romagnoli, Hamuera Ellis-Erihe and James Murray in early 2025.

Shannon Pitman is an Open Justice reporter based in Whangārei, covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is from Ngāpuhi/Ngāti Pūkenga and has worked in digital media for the last five years. She joined NZME in 2023.