Indigenous youth need community and culture to heal from trauma

By Sadie Fonfara, Roosevelt High School. Additional reporting by Janya Dieringer (Johnson Senior High School), Alaia Scroggins (Wayzata High School), and Christopher Rosales (Roosevelt High School)  Several years ago, when Bryce Premo was going through treatment for alcohol abuse and suicidal ideation, he was introduced to a world of inspiring people. “I saw the amazing work people were doing in suicide prevention, and I wanted to be a part of it,” Premo said. Today, Premo, a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, is the suicide prevention coordinator at the Ain Dah Yung Center in Saint Paul’s Summit Hill neighborhood, providing free and permanent housing for Native American youth facing housing insecurity. He also takes part in leading the American Indian Metro Suicide Coalition, which he helped establish two years ago. While Native people make up only 2% of Minnesota s population, they make up a staggering 30% of Minnesota s homeless population, according to the Min