Stay or Leave? Attawapiskat teens face grim choice

It is a sombre tale of two worlds.

In April, 2016, 400,000 Ontario teens awaited letters of acceptance from colleges and universities, which would signal their transition from adolescence into adulthood.

That same month, in Attawapiskat, Ont., Chief Bruce Shisheesh watched helplessly as 13 teenagers made a "suicide pact" and attempted to end their own lives.

One group of teens aims to prepare for their future. And for the other, the only rite of passage is to survive.

• Hear Syvanna Koostachindescribe Attiwapsikat from a teen's perspective

Morning North2:49Teen opens up about leaving Attawapiskat during suicide crisis

Syvanna Koostachin left Attawapiskat to pursue a better education down south. She spoke with the CBC's Olivia Stefanovich about leaving her community in the middle of a suicide crisis.

Seventeen-year-oldSyvannaKoostachinis one of the teens who chose to leaveAttawapiskat, Ont., in the wake of a growing number of suicide attempts.

She said that the prospects of a better education as the driving force behind her decision.

"That place depressed me and, I don't know, you just feel alone, I guess," saidKoostachin.

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She said that, like other teens, family problems and bullying also contributed to her decision to leave.

Koostachin accepted an offer to live in Bracebridge, Ont., from youth workers who she met when they visited the James Bay Coast a couple of years ago, and now attends high school in the area.

In aprevious CBC News story,Chelsea Jane Edwards said she understands why young people are struggling with poverty and despair in the Attawapiskat First Nation. She grew up in Attawapiskat and, when she returns there in June, she hopes to bring hope and inspiration to the young people in her struggling community.

"I feel that they don't think that they're cared about or cared for, and a lot of times a lot of these youth don't know who to turn to or they have nowhere to go," says Edwards. "So I think, in my opinion, that this is a cry for help for them."

Like many youth from remote First Nations, Edwards left home to attend high school in the city.

She's now attending school in Fredericton and says being away from home is difficult for First Nations youth in particular.

I want to go back just to help people and to let them know that it's a big world, and they are not alone.- SyvannaKoostachin

"You start to lose your language, your identity, your culture, your background. You forget those things. It's hard to maintain your education and then your background, your identity."

Both Edwards and Koostachin aim to return to their communities after graduation, and hopefully provide some hope and optimism for others.

"I want to go back just to help people and to let them know that it's a big world, and they are not alone," says Koostachin.