KRWG News – ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRWG) Gov. Susana Martinez is traveling to the nation's largest American Indian reservation Thursday to sign a bill that aims to tackle a problem that has plagued many communities across Indian Country.
Martinez will stop in the Navajo community of Shiprock to sign legislation that will establish a framework for creating a statewide clearinghouse for suicide prevention along with culturally-based prevention initiatives.
The legislation marks a first step by the state to address the problem of high suicide rates among Indian youth in New Mexico.
The legislation was sparked in part by a string of suicides in Thoreau and on the Mescalero reservation between 2009 and 2010.
No funding has been set aside for the effort, but supporters say they will work over the next year to find the necessary money.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. KRWG