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The federal government says it is doing everything it immediately can to help a northern Manitoba reserve struggling with a suicide crisis.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett and Health Minister Jane Philpott say the issue goes beyond the Pimicikamak Cree Nation, known as Cross Lake, and they are determined to address the underlying reasons why so many indigenous people are taking their own lives.

Six people have committed suicide in the last two months on the Cross Lake reserve, about 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg. Another 140 have attempted or threatened to kill themselves in the last two weeks. The band says about 100 children are on a suicide watch list.

The band council has declared a state of emergency.

“Cross Lake is not alone,” Bennett said in Ottawa on Thursday. “This is happening coast to coast to coast and we need to stop it. That means showing that we’ve got … mental-health immediate supports, but then going forward … they know that we will listen and do what they know they need.”