The Longest Walk 5 draws attention to the drug epidemic in Indian Country. Photo from Longest Walk 5 - War on Drugs / Facebook

The Longest Walk 5 kicked off in California on February 13 to draw attention to the drug epidemic in Indian Country.

Participants will make the 3,600-mile journey through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The trip is due to end in Washington, D.C., on July 15.

"We must find a solution to this continued brutality of our Native women and our Earth," organizer Dennis Banks, a co-founder of the American Indian Movement, told Indian Country Today. "Drugs have played a large part in making domestic violence even more brutal and widespread.”

Follow the progress on Facebook at Longest Walk 5 - War on Drugs and Longest Walk.

Get the Story:
Longest Walk marchers arrive, calling attention to drug abuse (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 2/16)
LONGEST WALK 5 WAR ON DRUGS COMMUNITY IS PREVENTION, COMMUNITY IS THE CURE (Native News Online 2/16)
Dennis Banks Declares War on Drugs with Longest Walk 5 (Indian Country Today 1/20)