2023 Washington State Tribal Opioid/Fentanyl Summit

Background

Indigenous people have faced negative impacts on their health and wellness since the country was colonized. These impacts persist to this day and worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of particular concern is the high rate of opioid and fentanyl-related overdose deaths, which is above the national average.

During the 2022 Centennial Accord, Tribes called upon Governor Inslee to act to combat the opioid/fentanyl crisis that disproportionately affects the state’s Native communities.

The summit is a result of this call to action, and the first step in our efforts to address the opioid crisis.

Hosted by the Lummi Nation and held over the course of two days, the summit provided an opportunity for state and Tribal representatives to work together as partners and come up with recommendations for combating the opioid crisis in Indian Country.

Summit report

The summit report contains the findings and recommendations of the summit breakout sessions as shared by Tribal and state-elected officials during the government-to-government working session with Governor Inslee and his staff. It expands on key opportunities where the state can further partner with Tribes to make meaningful progress in combating the opioids/fentanyl crisis. The report covers the following:

• Breakout sessions - summaries and recommendations
• Summary of the working sessions with Governor Inslee
• Key priorities identified and related jurisdictions
• Insights from the Icelandic Prevention Model
• Additional comments from summit participants

Summit participants acknowledged that this collaborative effort is the first step in a long journey to addressing the challenges posed by the opioid/fentanyl epidemic. This work will provide a foundation for future initiatives, led by focused groups, to start discussions and identify opportunities for further progress. The outcomes of the summit will also be shared at the upcoming National Tribal Opioid Summit hosted by the Tulalip Tribes.

Summit recordings

Recordings from the Day 1 main session and breakout sessions are available to watch.

Main session

The main session consisted of the following key components:

• Opening remarks and a welcome/introduction from Councilman Nick Lewis, Lummi Nation; Vice Chairman, National Indian Health Board; and Chairman, Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and Tribal Affairs Administrator Aren Sparck, Health Care Authority (HCA).
• A panel discussion with state agency leadership, facilitated by Chairman Anthony Hillaire, Lummi Nation and Chairwoman Teri Gobin, Tulalip Tribes. Director Sue Birch (HCA), Chief John Batiste (Washington State Patrol), and secretaries Cheryl Strange (Department of Corrections), Jilma Meneses (Department of Social & Health Services), and Umair Shah (Department of Health) talked about the opioid crisis in Tribal communities and answered questions about what each agency is doing to address the crisis.
• Remarks from Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who spoke about the successful opioid-related litigations for our state—resulting in Tribes receiving $15 million.
• Lived experience panel on opioids/fentanyl (not recorded). During the main session, Tribal members shared personal, heartbreaking stories about how opioid misuse—specifically with fentanyl—has impacted them, their families, and their communities. Although painful, these stories also spoke of hope, love, and determination, and how Tribal communities and Native culture help those experiencing opioid use disorder. 
  • This lived experience panel was purposefully set at the beginning of Day 1, so attendees could find common ground for a deeper understanding of the urgency of this epidemic. Together (Tribes and the state) need to end silos and create an effective partnership to combat the opioid crisis.

Breakout sessions

• Community/Family
  • This breakout session provided an overview of the current services offered to families. The focus was on how collaboration with Tribes can aid families with addressing the adversity they face when seeking out their respective service needs. That we can address the disproportionate number of tribal member overdoses and deaths related to opioids and fentanyl by increasing our engagement with the community.
• Justice
  • This breakout session focused on the complex jurisdictional issue of fentanyl/opioid use in Indian Country within the State of Washington. On how The unacceptable high rates of fentanyl/opioid use has challenged local/state/tribal justice systems in all aspects.
• Housing/Homelessness
  • This breakout session focused on the obstacles to long term housing solutions for people with substance use disorder and their families under existing systems and sought to identify how to provide state housing funding to Tribal governments and Tribal organizations.
• Treatment/Recovery/Prevention
  • This breakout session focused on bringing together differing cultural paradigms of prevention, treatment, and recovery. The goals were to identify how the communities we serve want these areas of service to intercept, clarify where our gaps in knowledge are, and brainstorm ways to collectively strengthen our people and promote healing.

Additional resources

• Summit program
  • This is an electronic version of the summit program. It includes a copy of the agenda as well as bios for the speakers. 
• Supplemental materials packet
  • This is an electronic version of the supplemental materials packet that was provided to summit attendees by agency and tribal partners. 
• Summit press release
  • Washington State an honored partner in upcoming Tribal Opioid/Fentanyl Summit
• Summit media coverage highlights
  • Lummi Nation hosts statewide tribal summit to address fentanyl crisis in Washington
  • Lummi hosts statewide summit to combat 'devastating' fentanyl overdose trend

  • Fentanyl crisis disproportionately impacting Native Americans in King County