[Epidemics have been part of colonialism since settlers arrived.
And, in the case of Indigenous nations, the story of inequity is
imbued with dispossession of lands and is met with organizing from the
inside. ] [[link removed]]

TRIBES MOUNT ORGANIZED RESPONSES TO COVID-19, IN CONTRAST TO STATE
AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS  
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Lisa Hardy, Gwendolyn Saul, Kerry F. Thompson
December 2, 2020
The Conversation
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_ Epidemics have been part of colonialism since settlers arrived.
And, in the case of Indigenous nations, the story of inequity is
imbued with dispossession of lands and is met with organizing from the
inside. _

Navajo Nation roadside sign., New York Times

 

As the months roll by, the pandemic continues to hit Indigenous
nations hard. But this phenomenon is not new. Epidemics have been part
of colonialism since settlers arrived
[[link removed]].
Health inequities tell us that illnesses have different outcomes on
different populations; however, leading medical professionals warn the
general public of the dangers of oversimplifying health data. They
don’t tell the whole story. And, in the case of Indigenous nations,
the story of inequity is imbued with dispossession of lands and is met
with organizing from the inside: two crucial points for untangling and
responding to COVID-19.

As scholars
[[link removed]]
who have studied impacts of the virus
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and Native nations [[link removed]], we
have found that Indigenous nations have reacted quickly and
effectively to the pandemic.

In our analysis, tribal nations have implemented guidelines and
policies that appear to be far more effective than those used by the
states they are in. These responses include locking down roads and
implementing guidelines earlier and more carefully than others and
developing relevant modes of delivery of supplies. Their response
shows that Indigenous nations and communities know what they need;
they are the directors of their own protective measures.

Protecting themselves and their land

Even when governors in the states tribes are in disagree with them,
nation leaders stood out. Responding to the pandemic also means
continuing to exercise sovereignty.

For example, in April, tribes in South Dakota set up checkpoints
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for cars coming onto their land and asked passersby not to enter.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem characterized the checkpoints as illegal
roadblocks and ordered the tribes to cease their activities and called
on the White House
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to intervene.

Later, at a rally at Mount Rushmore
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President Trump referred to the Native Americans protesting his
gathering on their land as “angry mobs” and opened his event with
“Garryowen,”
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the well-known Seventh Cavalry regimental song played by Custer in
battle. Still, as coronavirus spikes continue to break records, Native
nations have managed to control traffic on and off reservation land.

The Shinnecock Nation is also successfully organizing strategies to
protect its people, land and ancestors. The Shinnecock Nation is
surrounded by Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, home to some
of the wealthiest people in the world. Those counties served as an
escape for New Yorkers last spring when the pandemic raged. Even with
the onslaught of people, many of whom may have been exposed to the
virus, the Shinnecock took action and kept the number of cases to a
mere handful
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by following guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.

This is nothing new for Shinnecock people. Protecting themselves has
been a necessity for survival since 1640, when English settlers
purchased eight square miles of Shinnecock land, the origin of what is
now Southampton
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European settlers brought smallpox to Long Island, which had
devastating impacts on Shinnecock and other Indigenous peoples of Long
Island. Centuries later, however, they travel across Long Island and
from all over the U.S. to attend one of the largest annual powwows on
the East Coast, held on Shinnecock Nation every summer. This year, for
the first time since its inception in 1967, the powwow was virtual
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In fall 2020, at the behest of members of Shinnecock Nation,
Southampton adopted the Unmarked Graves Protection Act
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This move came after years of development and disruption of burial
grounds. One such example is the well-known Shinnecock Hills golf
course
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Now, a coalition of Shinnecock and its allies, Warriors of the
Sunrise, has set up camp on the Shinnecock Nation and is asking for
statewide passage of the act
[[link removed]]. They also want the
state to drop its lawsuit against the Shinnecock Nation over a
signboard that has provided COVID-19 related information information
[[link removed]] for heavy commuter
traffic.

Navajo mask mandate and organizing from inside

In the Southwest, multiple tribes have quickly responded to COVID-19.
The Navajo Nation has acted more swiftly and strongly to COVID-19
numbers than Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who was slow to suggest
guidelines at the pandemic’s beginning and quick to let them expire.
In contrast, Navajo Nation President Nez put out a mask mandate and
began a public education campaign
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on the Navajo reservation in the early days of the pandemic. Still,
numbers and impacts of COVID-19 continue.

Additional Native-led efforts to meet community needs have been
relevant and strong. This includes the Native-led Yee Ha’ólníi Doo
[[link removed]], a Navajo-Hopi relief fund
that raises money for food, water and “kinship kits” with Navajo
and Hopi people in the region.

Grassroots strategies work because they are dynamic and vigilant;
tribal members best understand community needs. Ethel Branch, former
Navajo Nation attorney general, told our authors that the fact that
COVID-19 disproportionately impacts these communities indicates a
“target on our culture.” Elders, she said, carry language and
traditional knowledge. This is why Yee Ha’ólníi Doo distributes
two weeks’ worth of food and water to elders through a
“family-based relief approach”: because elders, they know, will
“share with their family members.”

Other organizations left the area after the first surge, but this one
has continued to provide consistent relief. They know the foods and
resources that are most appropriate for people who live there. “We
love our people and we care about them,” said Branch. “They are
our family members and so we are really purposeful in how we apply
resources. We care about saving every life until this pandemic is
gone.” And now, during another spike, this organization and others
continue to collect resources for lifesaving actions across tribal
lands. Perhaps it is time to consider dispossession as an ongoing
health disparity. Stories that focus only on the need and despair of
Native people overlook long-held practices of sustainability, kinship
and health.

_Lisa Hardy [[link removed]]
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Social Science
Community Engagement Lab, Northern Arizona University_

_ Gwendolyn Saul
[[link removed]] Research
Affiliate , Northern Arizona University_

_ Kerry F. Thompson
[[link removed]]
Associate Professor of Anthropology & Department Chair, Northern
Arizona _University

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