A northern Manitoba First Nation is under a declared state of emergency after a string of deaths by suicide, and nearly two dozen suicide attempts over the summer.

God's Lake First Nation declared the state of emergency earlier this week.

“We are activating a state of emergency in our community today. We have been dealing with an ongoing crisis in our community every day this summer,” Chief Gilbert Andrews of God’s Lake First Nation says.

“There have been four young people who have taken their own lives this summer. This is a crisis that our health staff are dealing with every day and we need help immediately.”

"We need to invest time and not make it a charity case and develop a relationship."

God’s Lake is located about 1000 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg in Treaty Five Territory. The community is dealing with a meth crisis along with addictions to alcohol and drugs.

Robert Wilson (AKA Fresh IE), a hip hop artist from Winnipeg, has many ties to First Nations communities in Manitoba - including God's Lake.

In 2018, Cross Lake First Nation had a similar situation. Wilson brought a team from five different churches to minister and build relationships with that community. He hopes to do the same with God's Lake now.

"I know what it's like to be in these communities up north and when something like this happens, it really affects everyone in the community," says Wilson.

"A lot of pastors would say that church and politics don't mix, but the reality is that we need to know, we need to be educated on the culture of our Indigenous people."

"When I go to a community, I don't just go there, do a concert and try to convert people. ... I also go and become a part of the community."

Fresh suggests to the Church, "We need to understand the Indigenous people of Canada. ... We need to invest time and not make it a charity case and develop a relationship."

Jimmy Thunder, a prominent leader and Christian in the Indigenous community says, "It's really important to understand the sense of urgency with it. I think that as the Church it is really important for us to be talking about this as much as possible."

"As the Church let's realize the urgency of it and start talking about the deeper issues, reconciliation, and addressing some of the misconceptions that prevent solutions."

Thunder says, "With suicide, there's not just one solution to it, there's a lot of factors."

In order to prevent this long-standing problem, Thunder says, "We should educate ourselves on how things are the way they are.

"I think practically, we absolutely need to pray, we need to think about how we can help God's Lake right now and that is by talking about it ... talking to our MPs, talking about it in church. 

"But also thinking about it long term and realizing it's not just God's Lake but it is an issue in so many First Nations, so practically speaking, as the Church let's realize the urgency of it and start talking about the deeper issues, reconciliation, and addressing some of the misconceptions that prevent solutions."