Suicide mortality in S？o Gabriel da Cachoeira, a predominantly indigenous Brazilian municipality

abstract objective: to describe the characteristics and the raw suicide mortality rates (rsmr) during the period 2000-2007 in the municipality with the largest proportion of self-reported indigenous people in brazil, s？o gabriel da cachoeira (sgc), state of amazonas. method: a retrospective descriptive study was carried out using data from the information department of the brazilian unified health system (datasus). we considered suicide the cause of death coded in the records as voluntary self-inflicted injuries according to the international classification of diseases and related health problems, 10th revision. results: forty-four suicide cases were registered in this period. the average rsmr was 16.8 per 100,000 inhabitants (male, 26.6; female, 6.3). the highest rates were observed in the age groups 15-24 years and 25-34 years, with rsmr of 43.1 and 30.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively. most suicides occurred among indigenous people (97.7%), males (81.8%), and unmarried people (70.5%). in most cases, deaths occurred at home (86.4%), during weekends (59.1%) and mainly by hanging (97.7%). conclusion: suicide is a significant health and social problem in sgc. the suicide profile observed in this municipality was, as a whole, more similar to that observed in certain indigenous communities than that found in most urban and non-indigenous environments, demonstrating the sociocultural specificity of these events in brazil.