IHS is partnering with the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board to host a National Tribal Opioid Summit from August 22nd through the 24th in Tulalip, Washington. This event will address the intersection of COVID-19 and the opioid crisis throughout tribal communities. At the height of the opioid epidemic, Native Americans overdosed and died at a rate that rivaled some of the hardest-hit regions in the nation. From 2006 to 2014, Native Americans were nearly 50 percent more likely to die of an opioid overdose than non-natives.
More than a dozen bald eagles were spotted this past week as Indigenous canoeists paddled from Orcas Island to the grounds of the Lummi Nation, where tribes from across Washington and beyond met for the Gathering of the Eagles, a nine-day celebration and cultural exchange. The canoe journey began on May 21st, when several canoe groups — including the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society from Maui, the Chief Leschi Schools from Puyallup and the Carver’s Camp canoe from Tacoma — paddled from Anacortes to Lopez Island, before continuing on to San Juan Island and Orcas Island, completing the journey across the “ancestral highways” of the Coast Salish people.
Those are your headlines at this hour. I’m Colette Keith in the KIPI News center.
