Editor’s note: This story contains discussions about suicide, depression, and grief. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, the 988 hotline is available 24/7 by phone, text message, online chat, or video phone.
In a Browning High School classroom, students watched a music video by Carcass, a notable deathgrind band. Deathgrind combines death metal’s brutality and grindcore’s speed and aggression. Instructor Charlie Speicher explained the genre’s depth, highlighting its intense nature. Students showed enthusiasm, nodding along as Robert Hall, Native American studies director, animatedly headbanged. Speicher paused, prompting a playful protest from students. “I know, I want to keep going,” he said, emphasizing the music’s directness in addressing darkness.
At Browning High School and Buffalo Hide Academy on the Blackfeet Reservation, a groundbreaking class helps students explore heavy music through a suicide prevention lens. Over 18 weeks, students analyze music videos, write songs, and differentiate metal subgenres like doom metal and sludge metal. They also address suicide, trauma, and grief, learning to cope through art. “There’s just such power there,” Speicher stated, highlighting art’s role in confronting anguish.
The class leads into Fire in the Mountains, a first-of-its-kind heavy music festival on the Blackfeet Reservation, featuring global bands and panels on historical trauma and healing. Students gain hands-on experience with sound crews, bands, vendors, and social media, earning stipends and class credit. Festival proceeds aid suicide prevention programs on the reservation.
Montana faces one of the highest suicide rates in the U.S., with tribal communities hit hardest. The CDC reports American Indian suicide rates surpass other racial groups, rising nearly 20% from 2015 to 2022. In 2021, suicide among American Indian girls aged 15-19 was five times higher than their White peers.
Despite calls for investment, the Indian Health Service (IHS) remains underfunded. President Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal offers a slight increase, but the IHS needs $49.9 billion to be fully funded.
On the Blackfeet Reservation, suicide incidents are prevalent. A 2017 survey found one-third of eighth-graders at Browning Middle School had attempted suicide. Speicher noted recent “near misses” related to suicide. “So many people experience it and have been through it,” he said. “If you haven’t had a suicidal thought, you’re lucky and rare.”
Karrie Monroe, director of Sukapi Lodge Mental Health Center, helps youth and families in crisis, with funding partly from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act. Monroe observed challenges young men face with depression, adding, “Men around here are always taught, ‘You don’t cry. You keep it in.’” Suicide deaths trigger new trauma and grief, and barriers to quality care lead some to “use alcohol to run away from the sadness,” Monroe explained.
Historically, Native American cultures expressed grief through physical changes. Robert Hall, Native American Studies Director, noted Blackfeet traditions like cutting hair or wearing dirty clothes to signal grief. Fading traditions and stigma surrounding suicide lead to concealed pain. “We perceive ourselves as a burden and try to conceal it,” said Speicher, stressing open discussions on suicide. Processing grief through connection and expression is crucial, supported by studies.
The Firekeeper Alliance, founded by Speicher, aims to reduce suicide rates in Indian Country by promoting new coping mechanisms. Art, including music, helps people process pain. “If [students] love themselves and have a group of friends to express emotions, this community is going to be all the better,” Hall stated.
Student Dylan Williams called Browning High’s heavy metal class “honestly my favorite class,” noting its open, non-judgmental environment. Sophomore Urielle Pollock praised the class but wished it lasted longer, saying, “I just hate how it’s only one period.”
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