Case: 1:17-Md-02804-DAP Doc #: 1026 Filed: 10/05/18 1 of 236. Pageid #: 24910
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Case: 1:17-md-02804-DAP Doc #: 1026 Filed: 10/05/18 1 of 236. PageID #: 24910 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO EASTERN DIVISION IN RE: NATIONAL PRESCRIPTION MDL No. 2804 OPIATE LITIGATION Master Docket No.: 1:17-MD-02804-DAP This document relates to: The Muscogee (Creek) Nation v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al. Hon. Dan Aaron Polster Case No. 1:18-op-45459, and The Blackfeet Tribe of The Blackfeet Indian Reservation v. AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation, et al. Case No. 1:18-op-45749. BRIEF AMICI CURIAE OF 448 FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS TO DISMISS TRIBAL CLAIMS Case: 1:17-md-02804-DAP Doc #: 1026 Filed: 10/05/18 2 of 236. PageID #: 24911 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTERESTS OF AMICI ..............................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY ........................................................................................2 ARGUMENT ...............................................................................................................................3 I. The Unique Standing of Indian Tribal Nations in the Opioid Litigation ..........................3 A. Sovereign Indian Tribes in the United States .............................................................3 B. Historical, Legal, and Political Context .....................................................................5 1. A History of Violence and Dispossession, Strength and Resilience ....................6 2. Modern Tribal Self-Determination and Self-Governance ....................................9 3. Tribal Jurisdictional Authority and Ongoing Challenges to Tribal Self- Government..........................................................................................................13 II. The Devastating Impacts of the Opioid Crisis on Tribal Communities and Tribal Governmental Functions .......................................................................................16 A. Health Care ................................................................................................................20 B. Public Safety and Tribal Justice Systems ..................................................................27 C. Housing ......................................................................................................................31 D. Economic Development and Governmental Revenue ...............................................34 E. Social Services, Child Welfare, and Elder Care .........................................................37 F. Tribal Identity .............................................................................................................42 III. Remedying the Damages and Changing the Trajectory of the Opioid Crisis in Indian Country .......................................................................................44 A. Implementation of Solutions Must Be Driven by Tribal Sovereignty and Self-Determination—Not by the Interests of States or Other Governments .....................................................................................44 B. Existing and Emerging Models for Addressing the Opioid Crisis in Indian Country .............................................................................................47 1. Integrated Treatment: The Didgʷálič Model .........................................................47 –i– Case: 1:17-md-02804-DAP Doc #: 1026 Filed: 10/05/18 3 of 236. PageID #: 24912 2. CHAP and Telehealth for Remote Communities..................................................49 3. Wellness Courts and Other Alternative, Culturally Appropriate Justice Models .................................................................................50 4. Culturally Grounded Community Prevention: The Healing of the Canoe ...........52 C. Resources Are Needed to Address Barriers to Treatment and Implement Holistic Solutions .......................................................................................................52 D. Acknowledgement and Apology is Necessary to Promote Community Healing ...................................................................................................58 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................59 –ii– Case: 1:17-md-02804-DAP Doc #: 1026 Filed: 10/05/18 4 of 236. PageID #: 24913 GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS USED ADAI Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute BHA Behavioral Health Aide BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDP Chemical Dependency Professional CHAP Community Health Aide Program FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency FWC Family Wellness Court HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development ICWA Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. §§ 1901-1963 IHA Indian Housing Authorities IHCIA Indian Health Care Improvement Act, 25 U.S.C. §§ 1601-1685 IHS Indian Health Service Indian Reorganization Act, 48 Pub. L. No. 73-383, Stat. 984–88 (1934) IRA (codified as amended at 25 U.S.C. §§ 461–479) Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, ISDEAA 25 U.S.C. §§ 5301–5399 MAT Medication Assisted Treatment Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Pub. L. 101- NAGPRA 601, 104 Stat. 3048, codified at 25 U.S.C. §§ 3001-3013 Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act, NAHASDA 25 U.S.C. §§ 4101-4243 NAS Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome OUD Opioid Use Disorder PRC Purchased/Referred Care SAMHSA Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration SCIA Senate Committee on Indian Affairs WONDER Wide-ranging OnLine Data for Epidemiologic Research –iii– Case: 1:17-md-02804-DAP Doc #: 1026 Filed: 10/05/18 5 of 236. PageID #: 24914 INTERESTS OF AMICI Amici include American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes, inter-tribal organizations representing Tribes and tribal interests, and tribal organizations designated by tribal governments to carry out health care and other governmental functions. In total, 448 individual, federally recognized Tribes are represented herein, either under their own names or through their membership in amici tribal organizations. All tribal amici are identified in Appendix A to this brief. Each amicus has submitted a short statement of interest, all of which are attached as Appendix B to this brief. The opioid crisis has shattered communities throughout the United States, as evidenced by the size and scope of this multidistrict litigation. Tribes have a strong, independent interest in this litigation and appreciate the opportunity to submit this amicus brief. Tribes are unique sovereign governments that retained their preexisting sovereignty through the founding of the Republic. They are not subsumed within, nor are they political subdivisions of, any State or of the United States federal government, with which Tribes have historically complex relationships. As independent sovereigns and plaintiffs in this litigation, Tribes share in the common goal of abating a nationwide nuisance and public health crisis that has disproportionately affected their populations and strained their governmental resources to the breaking point. The unique standing that Tribes bring to this litigation will contribute to a better resolution for American Indian and Alaska Native people across the Country, and for all plaintiffs and community partners, if their sovereignty and self-determination are respected and reflected in the process. –1– Case: 1:17-md-02804-DAP Doc #: 1026 Filed: 10/05/18 6 of 236. PageID #: 24915 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY The Tribes’ claims in this litigation are tragic and stunning. By every measure, Tribes and their populations have been more gravely impacted on a proportionate basis than any other segment of America. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Indians and Alaska Natives had the highest drug overdose death rates in 2015 and the largest percentage increase in the number of deaths over time from 1999-2015 among all racial and ethnic groups.1 In some areas, the American Indian and Alaska Native mortality rate due to opioids runs six times that of non-Hispanic whites.2 This impact comes on top of two centuries of abuse that, until recent decades, largely sought to annihilate the very existence of the Tribes, not just figuratively but literally—to kill them off by war, privation, and starvation. The ongoing legacy of this not-so-distant past makes resolution of the opioid crisis in Indian Country all the more complicated. Further adding to the costly challenge is the extreme remoteness of many Tribes, who reside in some of the least populous and most inaccessible corners of rural America. Any fair resolution of tribal claims in this litigation must account for these conditions, which are far from mere marginal considerations. Equally imperative is that Tribes have their own “seat at the table” in the resolution of this massive litigation. Tribal interests are not represented by the States, which the Supreme Court once described as the Tribes’ “deadliest enemies.”3 Even today, States are often staunchly opposed to tribal interests and hostile to Tribes’ independent sovereignty, particularly in the contexts of litigation and resource distribution. In the upcoming term of the Supreme Court, for 1 Karin A. Mack et al., Illicit Drug Use, Illicit Drug Use Disorders, and Drug Overdose Deaths in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas – United States, CDC MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT 1, 1 (Oct. 20, 2017), https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/ss/pdfs/ss6619.pdf.