Kiana Lodge: Garden of the Gods

Today I go to the Suquamish Tribe. I am going there to hear what the Tribes' issues and concerns are regarding the Opioid crisis that all our Tribal communities are struggling with. I am part of a team representing the state of Washington but we are doing this work on behalf of all the Tribes and Native Americans in the state. The picture you see above is from Kiana lodge which is one of the most beautiful retreat facilities and it is owned and operated by the Suquamish Tribe. Kiana means garden of the gods in the Salish language and when you go there you will understand why it is called there. It is a very special place.

Yesterday we had another mass shooting in a school and there are 33,000 killings every year in the United States. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims families and all those who were traumatized. It is a a very complicated issue to be sure but doing nothing and putting our heads in the sand will only insure that the madness continues. I want to focus on one small thing that Congress could do that would make a difference and it should not be controversial. They have prevented the Center for Disease Control from even conducting a study to find out what the causes of the gun violence are in our society. This makes no sense at all. It reminds me of a number of years ago when we conducted a substance abuse survey at a Tribal school and it showed that they had very high rates among their student population. The administration sat on the information and did not share it with the public or even with parents because they didn't want everyone to know how serious an issue they were dealing with. As a result they never made any changes to reduce the drug use and the youth continued to suffer the consequences. The truth will set you free.