Alaska Native youth die by suicide at five times the rate of White youth

Alaska Native youth aged 10 to 18 died by suicide at 47 per 100,000 between 2016 and 2024, more than five times the rate of 9 per 100,000 among White youth, the Alaska Department of Health reported Monday. Youth of another race died at 14 per 100,000.

The gap in attempts was wider still: 1,098 per 100,000 among Alaska Native youth, against 289 for White youth and 261 for youth of another race.

The department urged youth and families in crisis to call, text or chat 988. The state says the line is answered in Alaska, around the clock, for people worried about themselves or about someone else.

Across 2016 through 2025, the bulletin counted 174 youth suicide deaths and 4,101 attempts among Alaskans aged 10 to 18. The median age of those who died was 16. The 2025 fatality rate was the highest of the previous 10 years, and Alaska's youth suicide rate runs nearly six times the national average.

Females accounted for 3,152 attempts and 33 deaths. Males accounted for 949 attempts and 141 deaths. About 30 percent of females who died had a prior attempt, against 17 percent of males.

The department said the disproportionate burden on Alaska Native youth calls for prevention that is culturally responsive and community informed, alongside evidence-based practices such as screening, safety planning, follow-up and care coordination. Federal health officials frame the disparity as a product of longstanding structural inequities facing American Indian and Alaska Native communities rather than individual deficiencies.

Some Alaska prevention work is already built that way. The Qungasvik project, developed at the Center for Alaska Native Health Research, works through hunting, dancing and storytelling rather than clinical treatment, promoting what it calls reasons for life in Yup'ik and Cup'ik communities. The Alaska Native Collaborative Hub for Research on Resilience has worked with 64 remote and rural communities.

Attempts were counted only through health care encounters, the department cautioned, so the true number is likely higher. The data also omit individual risk factors such as health diagnoses or substance use.