Wapekeka First Nation has declared a state of emergency after the third suicide of a child in the remote First Nation since January. 
 
 Chief Brennan Sainnawap issued the declaration after a meeting Tuesday night. 
 
 All of the girls who died were just 12 years old and part of a suicide pact that community leaders became aware of last summer. 
 
 That's when community officials first asked for help but, according to a spokesperson, it has been slow to arrive. 
 
 Jenera Roundsky was the latest child to die. She was found by another child near the community's outdoor rink last week. Jolynn Winter died on Jan. 8, while Chantel Fox died two days later. 
 
 Nearly 40 young people from the community are currently considered to be at risk of suicide; that represents about 10 per cent of the population of Wapekeka. 
 
 The state of emergency asks for an immediate response from Ontario and provision of the necessary services for the community. ||||| A suicide pact in Wapekeka First Nation in northern Ontario has resulted in the death by suicide of a third 12-year-old girl. 
 
 Jenera Roundsky was declared dead on Tuesday night at the nursing station after being discovered at the community hockey rink by another child, according to Wapekeka band manager Joshua Frogg. 
 
 Roundsky was part of a suicide pact by young girls in Wapekeka discovered by community leaders last summer, Frogg said. Jolyn Winter and Chantel Fox, both 12 years old, took their own lives in January. 
 
 Frogg said Roundsky had been receiving mental health treatment outside the community until a few weeks ago when she was returned to Wapekeka against the wishes of the chief and council. 
 
 "There was no plan of care, there was no safety plan for her," Frogg said. 
 
 He said there is simply not enough support for all the children in crisis in the remote community of about 400 people, located approximately 450 kilometres north of Sioux Lookout, Ont. 
 
 "We don't have enough personnel to keep watching people on a 24/7 basis that are at high risk, we try, but we just don't have the resources," he said. 
 
 'In shock, mourning' 
 
 Health Canada pledged $380,000 for a local suicide prevention initiative after the deaths of Winter and Fox. The First Nation's proposal had initially been refused by Health Canada six months earlier when the suicide pact was discovered. 
 
 Health Canada told CBC News last month that it would "continue to provide additional case management and mental health counselling supports for the months of May and June 2017." 
 
 But Frogg said emergency funding of $95,000 forwarded by the government in February has now run out and no new money has arrived. 
 
 "We've been in crisis since January," he said. "Today we're in shock, in mourning. It's just very, very sad." 
 
 Roundsky was remembered by chiefs from across Ontario who were gathered for their annual assembly on Wednesday. 
 
 "We stay up late at night worrying about our children," Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said in a speech. "Many of us are not in a position, because there are no adequate resources or capacity in our communities, to put in a plan that is more long term. 
 
 "We are so programmed to always be in this crisis state and that shouldn't be," Fiddler said. 
 
 Roundsky's suicide marks 17 reported deaths of a young person from a community within the Nishnawbe Aski Nation since Jan. 1. The 49 communities have a collective population of about 45,000 people, according to its website. ||||| Wapekeka First Nation has declared a state of emergency after the suicide of 12-year-old Jenera Roundsky last week sent 35 kids into a mental health crisis and ignited fears that a suicide pact that gripped the community in January still exists. Wapekeka band manager Joshua Frogg said “this is a very high number for a small community like ours,” Frogg said of the community of 400 Oji-Cree about 400 kilometres northeast of Sioux Lookout, Ont. 
 
 Chantell Fox, 12, left, committed suicide on Jan. 10, two days after her friend Jolynn Winter, right. ( Supplied photos ) 
 
 “Our people are getting tired. So now little kids, 10-, 11-, 12-year-olds are helping our people as first responders and this is not acceptable. They are the ones at risk. We need help, boots on the ground, people properly trained to assess and determine and help as needed — we don’t need 11 and 12-year-olds on the front lines trying to save their friends, that adds trauma,” Frogg said. The remote, fly-in First Nation has been in a state of crisis after the deaths of two 12-year-old girls in January. Jolynn Winter took her life on Jan. 8 and her friend, Chantell Fox, followed her two days later. Wapekeka has appealed to the Canadian Red Cross, which is trying to figure out how they can best help, said media relations adviser Jennifer Ouellette. 
 
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 “As the community identifies what assistance is required, the Red Cross will continue to be actively engaged in these discussions to determine how we might be able to support the Wapekeka First Nation during this very difficult time, based on our capacity, resources and areas of expertise,” she said. The community does not have the money to pay for more fly-in help, said Frogg. Earlier this year, Health Canada promised Wapekeka $380,000 in emergency funding but only $95,000 has arrived and that was spent by the end of March on new mental health workers, Frogg said. “We still don’t have that money the feds promised. I’m the band manager, I look after the finances and that money is not there yet. I’m moving financial resources from other programs in order to help our people. We are stressed and maxed to the limit,” he said. Wapekeka requested $380,000 last summer when the community discovered a suicide pact among its teenagers. Health Canada originally refused. However, the federal health authority changed its mind after an anonymous donor came forward and offered to pay the $380,000. But that donor has since rescinded his offer. Dr. Michael Kirlew, a physician in the Sioux Lookout Region who is heading to Wapekeka, credited the First Nation for coming up with a plan last year and trying to get it funded. 
 
 “Communities have put forward solutions. It is not as if Wapekeka wasn’t doing anything and just waiting around. It has been almost a year,” Kirlew said, adding the health system is not equitable for Indigenous people and that the kids have no access to the mental health services needed. “How many youth are going to have to die before we get system transformation. Is it four? Is it five? We need to transform the system or else we won’t improve the outcomes,” he said. 
 
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 Gary Holub, a spokesperson for Health Canada said the $95,000 payment was the “balance owing” from the fiscal year 2016-2017 and that the department is committed to providing Wapekeka with $380,000 in enhanced funding until 2019. 
 
 The remote, fly-in Wapekeka First Nation has been in a state of crisis after the deaths two 12-year-old girls in January. 
 
 Since last winter Health Canada has continued to fund additional crisis supports, including three staff rotating every 10 days, up to four mental health counsellors, administration and ground transportation, noted the department in a statement to the Star. “Since the beginning of the current fiscal year (April 1), Health Canada has provided Wapekeka with close to $1 million for the delivery of their community health programs. On May 9, Health Canada also provided a letter of commitment to Chief (Brennan) Sainnawap confirming $380,000 annually (until March 2019), which will fund four youth mental health workers who were requested by the community,” the statement said, adding the workers are already in place. Health Canada is now providing “more than $900,000 on an annual basis for mental wellness programs,” the statement said. This latest crisis was touched off by the death of Jenera Roundsky, a 12-year-old girl whose body was discovered at the outdoor ice rink on June 13 by another 12-year-old, said Frogg. Now there is concern for that child’s well-being. “That stays with you for a long, long time. I have had to cut down one person (who had hanged themselves), many years ago. It stays with you forever. It never goes away. Can you imagine a child?” he asked. Trauma teams from Sioux Lookout that stay for a period of 10 days then rotate out will hopefully be soon in place for the next year, Frogg said. The anonymous donor pulled his funding support after the community questioned his “very detailed agreement” on how the money would be used. “I’m used to looking after reporting to the federal government and the province, but this one was something else. I couldn’t do it, the way he wanted it done. We said we’d use the money — since the federal government was coming through with the $380,000 — towards their annual anti-suicide conference. People look forward to it every year. They come from all over. But then he pulled the money,” he said. “It was disheartening.” Wapekeka, for years, was proactive in ensuring healing and suicide prevention through community plans and their annual Survivors of Suicide Conference, but lack of funds led to its cancellation. But the funding for these programs was cut two years ago. The conferences provided healing for the survivors of convicted pedophile Ralph Rowe, as well as their families. Rowe’s child sexual assault charges affected many northern communities. The Anglican priest and Boy Scout leader used to fly into communities and spend time with adolescent boys. Health Canada now says it will fund the conference once again. In 1994, Rowe was convicted of 39 counts of indecent assault on 15 boys ages 8 to 14. He was sentenced to six years in prison and served 41/2 years. As part of his 1994 plea deal, he was protected from facing more charges of a similar nature. In 2006, Rowe faced 75 charges involving 31 victims, the Star reported in 2011. But after preliminary hearings, the complainants fell to 25 from 31 and the charges to 57 from 75. Only two cases resulted in convictions. ||||| Willow Fiddler 
 
 APTN National News 
 
 A text to a friend saying goodbye. 
 
 That’s the last thing 12-year old Jenera Roundsky texted before her friend ran to save her. 
 
 But it was too late. 
 
 According to Wapekeka First Nation spokesperson Joshua Frogg, Roundsky had been in care of Tikinagan Child and Family Services. 
 
 She was identified as high-risk for suicide after two other 12-year-old girls took their lives in January. She was sent out to receive specialized care and sent home to the community about three weeks ago said Frogg. 
 
 “Against the advice of a psychiatrist that she was seeing. But Tikinagan insisted she was ready to come home,” said Frogg in a phone call with APTN National News. 
 
 Roundsky was found at the community’s outdoor hockey rink Thursday night. She was taken to the nursing station with serious trauma and pronounced dead at 11:17 pm. 
 
 Wapekeka, a fly-in Oji-Cree community of 430 members, sits about 600 km north of Thunder Bay. 
 
 “In shock, that’s all I can say right now,” said Chief Brennan Sainnawap in a phone call with APTN Wednesday morning. 
 
 The young child was living with her grandparents Elsie and Donny Roundsky. Her father Vernon “Baby Boy” Roundsky died by suicide in 2011 when she was just six-years-old. 
 
 Frogg said chief and council was concerned because they hadn’t seen a plan of care or safety plan prior to Roundsky returning home just weeks ago. 
 
 “We don’t have enough resources to monitor people 24/7 here. We try but we don’t have enough resources,” said Frogg. 
 
 The community has been working to get the necessary resources after the tragic deaths of Jolynn Winter on Jan. 8 and Chantal Fox on Jan. 10. Both girls died by suicide. Immediately after those deaths, high-risk youth were identified and flown out of the community to receive specialized care. Frogg said some are still out in different locations across the country including British Columbia, London and Edmonton. 
 
 “If they’ve received the appropriate care they should be home but there should be a plan of care and a health and safety plan in place for them,” said Frogg. 
 
 Wapekeka submitted a proposal to Health Canada in July 2016 to fund a suicide prevention program after a suicide pact involving several youth was discovered. That proposal was denied funding. 
 
 Health Canada has since committed $380,000 to Wapekeka but Frogg said they have yet to see it. 
 
 “It’s already June. We’re stressed to our bones to try to help our people here, help our children,” he said. 
 
 Mental health counsellors have been in the community on a rotating basis since January but Frogg said they now need more immediate support. 
 
 “This is just devastating for the community. We’re trying to recuperate and we’re trying to stabilize our community and now we’re just back to where we were,” said Frogg. 
 
 “It is concerning and it is sad that this child fell through that crack.” 
 
 wfiddler@aptn.ca
– A simple text saying goodbye. That was the last anyone heard from 12-year-old Jenera Roundsky, who committed suicide in Wapekeka First Nation in northern Ontario on June 13. Jenera had been part of a suicide pact made by young girls in the community of 400 Oji-Cree, which suffered the suicides of two of Jenera's 12-year-old friends, Jolyn Winter and Chantel Fox, in January, report CBC News and the Toronto Star. Community leaders learned of the pact last summer and had hoped to prevent the loss of life. Jenera, one of 40 young people deemed at risk of suicide in Wapekeka, received specialized care outside of the community, reports APTN. Three weeks after she returned home, she was found dead at an outdoor ice rink by another 12-year-old, prompting Wapekeka to declare a state of emergency Tuesday. Following the January deaths, Health Canada set aside $380,000 annually to pay for four youth mental health workers in Wapekeka until 2019. But community leaders say the money has yet to arrive and they're still floundering. "We don't have enough personnel to keep watching people on a 24/7 basis that are at high risk. We try, but we just don't have the resources," Wapekeka band manager Joshua Frogg tells the CBC. He hopes the state of emergency will trigger an immediate response. In addition to mental health workers, Frogg says a health and safety plan should be in place for at-risk youth returning to Wapekeka. No such plan was in place for Jenera, he says, adding she was allowed to return home against the advice of a psychiatrist. (The problem isn't limited to Ontario.)