LUMMI NATION, Wash. — People on the Lummi Indian Reservation near Bellingham are in mourning.
Tribal health leaders reported four people died from fentanyl overdoses just this week. The tribe has issued a warning to help save lives.
Rene Ramirez works for one of the recovery programs on the reservation.
"It's been, it's been terrible," Ramirez said. "It's destroyed families and the community."
They have been expanding resources with two new prevention specialists and a new stabilization center just this year to care for people medically and culturally.
"It's much more than a treatment facility. We have to look at the overall person, not just the physical, but also the mental and the cultural and the spiritual," Ramirez said.
With the spike in fentanyl overdose deaths this week, Dr. Jesse Davis, who is the medical director of the program, is putting out a warning to inform people there may be a change in the supply of drugs currently in the area that is causing these overdoses.
"We don't know necessarily what it is," Davis said. "It could be a more potent analog version of fentanyl or a mixture similar to things like tranq dope."
There are already hundreds of overdose reversal kits in the community that they started distributing six months ago and now they are putting out alerts sharing harm reduction tips on how to avoid a fatal overdose.
"We hand them out not only from door to door but at our gas stations, bus stops at our casino, as well as on social media," Davis said.
Rosalie Scott works in tribal counseling services and says the approximately 5,000 people who live in and around the reservation are hurting as they try to handle the crisis.
"What can we do? How is this going to save our people? And I'm thinking about the little, the younger generation, the kids, and preventing them from doing it," Scott said.
She says through this devastation they will continue to care for each other, as they always have.
"As a Native American, we all come together to support one another, to help them and to work through their grief."
As the community mourns the loss of these people, they are working to prevent more lives from being taken by fentanyl.
"If you see somebody suffering from addiction, don't make judgments," Ramirez said. "You know they're alive and there's still hope."
The Lummi Tribal Health Center released a list of ways to avoid overdoses when using drugs:
- Never use alone
- Always have Narcan on hand
- Make sure the supply is safe with fentanyl test strips
- Leave doors open or unlocked
- Use slowly, especially with a new supply
The Lummi Nation is also postponing a celebration of life for the orca Tokitae. In a press release, they wrote, "Our community has been hit hard with an overwhelming amount of grief this week and we feel at this time we must come together as a nation to wrap our arms around the families that are mourning the loss of a loved one."
The tribe added that they will announce a new date for the celebration soon.