"As the partial government shutdown drags on, Native American tribes in urban and rural areas are facing food shortages and a health care crisis because federal funds that stock pantries and provide medicine for diabetes and opioid addiction have been cut off, witnesses told a House committee Tuesday.
In addition to the shutdown’s impact on indigenous people, citizen observers at national parks are reporting poaching of wild game such as deer, garbage piled high and trees that have been illegally cut as most park workers remain on furlough, former Interior officials who appeared before the committee said.
“We have thus far had to deny purchase of care requests that are critical to chronic care management -- insulin, blood pressure medication, thyroid medication and antibiotics -- thus impacting the quality of life for the individuals we serve,” said Kerry Hawk Lessard, executive director of Native American Lifelines, which provides services to indigenous Americans from Baltimore to Boston. Hawk Lessard said the organization closed its doors Saturday when funding ran out."
Darryl Fears reports for the Washington Post January 15, 2019.
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