Elyse Wild

As the nation contends with the fourth wave of the opioid crisis, shortcomings in data collection continue to paint an incomplete picture of overdoses in Indian Country. But, a new bill introduced last month would fund tribes, state and local governments, and law enforcement task forces to collect near real-time data on overdoses, potentially filling the gaps to direct help where it is needed most — and saving lives.

This past summer, more than 300 criminal cases in Indian Country were bolstered with investigative support and personnel by a joint effort between the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs-Office of Justice Services (BIA).

For many Native communities in the Western United States, poor water quality and water shortages are a part of daily life. Citizens of the Navajo Nation regularly travel up to two hours one way to fill barrels of water at access points across the res...

Across Indian Country, tribal communities are proving that blending Indigenous practices with Western medicine creates more effective addiction treatment for their citizens.

On a hot July morning in Beaverton, Oregon, Dr. John Spence stands outside of an equestrian training arena, watching a 15-year-old boy lead a caramel-colored horse around an obstacle course marked by bright orange cones. Spence, a citizen of the Gros Ventre tribe and tribal consultant for the Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest (NARA NW), is lean and strong at 83 years old.

Native communities are on the front lines of the nation's ongoing overdose crisis, with Native youths, pregnant tribal members, and unhoused relatives most at risk. Data from state and federal health agencies shows that Native Americans are 2.6 times more likely to die of an overdose than white Americans.

While the boys work with the horses, Dr. John Spence, an elder and consultant to NARA NW, tells them, “You're getting in tune with another spirit.” Image by Elyse Wild.

This story was originally published on Native News Online and produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. BEAVERTON, Ore. — On a hot July morning in Beaverton, Oregon, Dr. John Spence stands outside of an equestrian training arena, watching a 15-year-old boy lead a caramel-colored horse around an obstacle course marked by […]

Native Americans now have the highest rate of drug-overdose deaths among teenagers and young adults of any ethnic group. At a Portland-based Native American health-care nonprofit, prevention specialists and tribal elders are blending traditional horsemanship and other Native culture with clinical approaches to prevent addiction before it starts.

BEAVERTON, Ore. — On a hot July morning in Beaverton, Oregon, Dr. John Spence stands outside of an equestrian training arena, watching a 15-year-old