Conventional abstinence-based treatment has not been effective in saving lives, says Tailfeathers, and so the grief-stricken Blackfoot community turned to a harm-reduction strategy in recent years.
As Tailfeathers' documentary "Kimmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy" shows, that shift in strategy saved lives, in part through supervised consumption and the Blackfoot practice known as "kimmapiiyipitssini" – pronounced "GEE-maa-bee-bit-sin" and meaning "giving kindness to each other."
Tailfeathers said many on the reserve initially weren't open to the concept of harm reduction, which doesn't necessarily require users to abstain.
Some felt methods such as opioid agonist therapy, which treats addiction through medications, were a form of enabling.