Babies die at a rate 44% higher than decade ago

By VANESSA HO

On the Okanogan plains in northeast Washington, the Colville tribes recently buried a man who died after facing a bleak decision: spend his money on trips into town for dialysis, or buy food for his family.

It was a variant of a fate that has doomed many people on the stark, remote reservation, causing the timber-dependent tribes to increasingly spend their money on burials.

"It's a choice between feeding your family and living," said Andy Joseph Jr., a Colville Confederated Tribes council member. "Our people can't afford to pay for their funeral services."

From isolated reservations across the state to urban pockets around Seattle, Native Americans are dying at higher rates than a decade ago, at a time when most people in Washington are living longer, healthier lives.


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