Tribes: Settlement in opioids case will foster healing

Money that will flow to Native American tribes as part of an opioid drug settlement with a major manufacturer and three distributors won't come quickly

Cheryl Andrews-Maltais takes note of the heart-wrenching dates that remind Wampanoag families that they're still in the midst of the opioid drug crisis — birthdays of loved ones lost, anniversaries of their passing. Then she reaches out with a phone call to the grieving.

“And then you're on the other side of it, and you're bracing for another holiday or event you can't share because of this,” she said.

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.

Andrews-Maltais can think of 15 deaths among her tribe of about 500 alone.