{"id":42356,"date":"2022-02-04T19:24:59","date_gmt":"2022-02-05T02:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tribes-settlement-in-opioids-case-will-foster-healing\/"},"modified":"2022-02-05T02:24:59","modified_gmt":"2022-02-05T02:24:59","slug":"tribes-settlement-in-opioids-case-will-foster-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tribes-settlement-in-opioids-case-will-foster-healing\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribes: Settlement in opioids case will foster healing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"W.
W. Ron Allen, right, chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, talks with Brent Simcosky, left, tribal health director, Feb. 2 in front of the Jamestown Healing Clinic, in Sequim, Washington. The tribe is building a full-service health center to treat both tribal members and other community residents for opioid addictions. (AP Photo\/Ted S. Warren)<\/span>Ted S. Warren<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Cheryl Andrews-Maltais takes note of the heart-wrenching dates that remind Wampanoag families that they\u02bcre still in the midst of the opioid drug crisis \u2014 birthdays of loved ones lost, anniversaries of their passing. Then she reaches out with a phone call to the grieving.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then you\u02bcre on the other side of it, and you\u02bcre bracing for another holiday or event you can\u02bct share because of this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Shawna
Shawna Priest, a member of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, sits in the child care area of the Jamestown Healing Clinic where she works as a medical assistant, Feb. 2 in Sequim, Washington, as she talks about the battles her son and daughter have had with opioid addiction. (AP Photo\/Ted S. Warren)<\/span>Ted S. Warren<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Shawna
Shawna Priest, a member of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, wears a pin with the logo of the Jamestown Healing Clinic where she works as a medical assistant, as she talks about the battles her son and daughter have had with opioid addiction. (AP Photo\/Ted S. Warren)<\/span>Ted S. Warren<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"W.
W. Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, poses for a photo Feb. 2 in front of the Jamestown Healing Clinic, in Sequim, Washington. (AP Photo\/Ted S. Warren)<\/span>Ted S. Warren<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"W.
W. Ron Allen, right, chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, walks with Bud Turner, left, a woodcarver, artisan and signage manager for the tribe as they discuss the placement of art in the Jamestown Healing Clinic, in Sequim, Washington. (AP Photo\/Ted S. Warren)<\/span>Ted S. Warren<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"W.
W. Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, holds late 19th-century photographs of early tribal village scenes as he stands in the lobby of the Jamestown Healing Clinic in Sequim, Washington. (AP Photo\/Ted S. Warren)<\/span>Ted S. Warren<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A machine used to securely dispense Methadone. (AP Photo\/Ted S. Warren)<\/span>Ted S. Warren<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Workers
Workers are shown in a training session, Feb. 2 at the Jamestown Healing Clinic, in Sequim, Washington. (AP Photo\/Ted S. Warren)<\/span>Ted S. Warren<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A room that will be used for dental services at the Jamestown Healing Clinic, in Sequim, Washington, a full-service health center being built by the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe to treat both tribal members and other community residents for opioid addictions. (AP Photo\/Ted S. Warren)<\/span>Ted S. Warren<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A room that will be used for dental services is shown Feb. 2 at the Jamestown Healing Clinic in Sequim, Washington. (AP Photo\/Ted S. Warren)<\/span>Ted S. Warren<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A pharmacy window where patients will come to receive Methadone and other medications used to treat opioid addiction at the Jamestown Healing Clinic. (AP Photo\/Ted S. Warren)<\/span>Ted S. Warren<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah, which Andrews-Maltais leads in Massachusetts, was among hundreds of Native American tribes that sued drug manufacturers and distributors over the role they played in the epidemic. One study found Native Americans had the highest per capita rate of opioid overdose deaths of any population group in 2015.<\/p>\n

Andrews-Maltais can think of 15 deaths among her tribe of about 500 alone.<\/p>\n

Tribes settled with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and the three largest U.S. drug distribution companies this week for $590 million. Lawyers representing tribes hope to reach settlements with others in the pharmaceutical industry, including remaining manufacturers and pharmacies.<\/p>\n

Last year, the four companies announced a $26 billion settlement with state and local governments to end all suits. An overwhelming majority of governments have signed on; the companies are to decide this month whether it constitutes enough acceptance to move ahead. The agreement with tribes is to be subtracted from those deals.<\/p>\n

Each of the 574 federally recognized tribes are eligible for a share of the settlement money made public Tuesday. It\u02bcs unclear how quickly the money would flow to tribes, but it won\u02bct be much and not until 95% of tribes and tribal organizations that sued agree to the settlement.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it should have been more,\u201d Andrews-Maltais said. \u201cThe ongoing, cumulative effects are generational, and this money is not going to be generational.\u201d<\/p>\n

A special court master and the judge who oversaw the case must develop a formula for allocating the money. Three enrolled tribal members who are well-known in Indian Country will be responsible for administering the funds: former U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Secretary Kevin Washburn, former Indian Health Service acting director Mary Smith, and Kathy Hannan, chair of the National Museum of the American Indian\u02bcs Board of Trustees.<\/p>\n

Tribal leaders say they hope the funding will consider not only population but geographic diversity, access to health care, land mass and tribes\u02bc needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne measuring stick that does apply, unfortunately to the vast majority of tribes, is that they are disproportionately impacted by opioids, alcohol and other chemical-generating problems that they had a very difficult history dealing with,\u201d said Geoffrey Strommer, whose firm represented some tribes in the settlement.<\/p>\n

A 236-page court document filed in the case laid out staggering statistics for tribes related to drug-related crimes and deaths, and noted a long history \u2014 including the federal government\u02bcs attempts to assimilate Native Americans into white society \u2014 that has contributed to generations of trauma. Most tribes have struggled financially to address the opioid crisis through law enforcement, courts, social services and health care.<\/p>\n

Tribal police agencies said in the court filing that they\u02bcve had to train more officers on how to deal with prescription and synthetic drugs, and arm them with tools to treat overdoses.<\/p>\n

Tribes have turned to wellness or healing centers to treat those with opioid addictions, their families and the larger community. In Sequim, Washington, the Jamestown S\u02bcKlallam Tribe is building a holistic health center in the shadow of the Olympic Mountains and near the headwaters of the Duwamish River.<\/p>\n

It will serve up to 300 people per day, both tribal and nontribal members struggling with addiction. Shuttle services will be available for anyone who needs a ride and child care. The plans call for a water feature in the front that will reinforce a traditional story about the ability to change the path of a river by moving one rock.<\/p>\n

The tribe also has funded a full-time social services worker who will be embedded in the police department to address concerns in the larger community about patients and any drug-related crimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes people, optically, think that these kind of treatment centers become a magnet to drug dealers and the underbelly of that industry,\u201d said Jamestown S\u02bcKlallam Chairman W. Ron Allen. \u201cAnd that\u02bcs not what it is. It\u02bcs a reverse of that. They\u02bcre designed to be highly secure, highly safe, highly monitored and totally focused on helping those individuals become healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joshua Carver, who received services from the tribe to overcome a heroin addiction, helped install some of the center\u02bcs artwork as part of his tribal construction job.<\/p>\n

His mother, Shawna Priest, saw it as an evolution from taking oxycodone for back issues, moving on to heroin, being hospitalized on the brink of an overdose and detoxing at home for six months before recovering four years ago.<\/p>\n

Her daughter also has struggled with addiction, including a relapse after losing a newborn, but has recovered and is working at a tribal casino. Priest herself was terrified to take medication after having ankle surgery last April, questioning whether it would cause her to become addicted. She tells her family\u02bcs story to instill hope in others.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can get through this. You can be successful,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u02bcs not the end of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard Forsman, chairman of the neighboring Suquamish Tribe, said he is glad major drug manufacturers and distributors are being held responsible for the opioid epidemic, though none acknowledged wrongdoing in the settlement. The tribe plans to use the money to support cultural resurgence, which he said \u201chas been the most effective pathway for preventing addiction and promoting recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma said it will use the funding to expand mental health treatment and related services.<\/p>\n

Kristopher Peters, a former police officer for the Squaxin Island Tribe in Washington state, said he has seen good people lose their jobs, destroy their families, hurt others and die because of opioid addictions. Incarceration is not the answer, and many times, treatment doesn\u02bct work the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u02bcre not expecting the awarded funds to solve our issues or buy our way out of this epidemic,\u201d said Peters, now the tribe\u02bcs chairman. \u201cThat in itself is not going to heal anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cultural gatherings like the canoe journey shared among tribes at Puget Sound and potlatches \u2014 ceremonial feasts that involve gift giving \u2014 are part of the equation, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u02bcve seen people who are absolute addicts struggling with crime on that canoe journey, and they are totally different people,\u201d he said. \u201cConnecting with their traditional ways. It\u02bcs healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fonseca reported from Flagstaff, Arizona, and Warren from Sequim, Washington. Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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