Federal lawmakers on Tuesday heard from tribal and border patrol representatives in a hearing on how the opioid crisis is impacting Indigenous communities.
Non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaska Natives had the highest drug overdose death rate of any racial group in 2019 and 2020, according to federal data.
Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, told lawmakers that there is "an epidemic of opioid abuse sweeping through Indian Country."
After settling its claims a...