Navajo Tribes Unfortunate and Unspring Struggle with COVID-19

Written by: Olivia Oser

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coronavirus-hits-indian-country-hard-exposing-infrastructure-disparities-n1186976 

As 2019 ended and 2020 began, hope and excitement was in the air. Now only a few months into 2020, the morale is taking a nosedive while COVID-19 is on the rise. While the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting everyone in some way here in the United states and across the world, it is the tribal communities that are being hit the hardest. The Navajo Nation, the largest in the United states, spans over three states (Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico) with a population around 174,000 (Chappell). The first confirmed case came on March 17^th and in just a month the numbers skyrocketed to 1,206 cases and 48 deaths as of April 22^nd (Associated Press). According to the President of the Navajo Nation, Jonathon Nez, the numbers are growing “alarmingly fast”, surpassing many other states (Woods). New York, the state affected the most as of April 22^nd, has 138,435 cases with 9,944 deaths, with a population of around 8 million (“COVID-19: Data.”).  Within New York, the group affected the most by the government’s failure to take precautions is the African American communities (Dorn). Overall, while the African American and Navajo communities are both disproportionally affected, there are different structural factors that are at the root.

            There are countless economic factors that leave Native American tribes, particularly the Navajo, vulnerable to a health crisis such as the current pandemic. This should come as no surprise because back in 2009, the H1N1 flu, was four times deadlier for the Native American then it was for the average American (Ebbs and Haslett). The reason The Navajo Nation is disproportionally affected is high poverty rates and lack of safe resources due to mining companies. The Peabody Mine in Northeast Arizona is responsible for the 40% of Navajo Natives being without running water, meaning many do not have indoor plumbing (Chappell). With many Navajo Natives needing to travel far distances to access clean water and resources, sterilizing hands to prevent further spread of the disease becomes incredibly difficult (Chappell). Similarly, The African American communities in New York are affected the most because they don’t have the luxury of social distancing due to jobs as essential workers and live in “residentially segregated communities” (Dorn).

Healthcare and social distancing are just a few luxuries that many within the United States are taking advantage of, not realizing it is a privilege. Not only did Peabody take the water from native “aquifers” but also contaminated the area they live in with hazardous chemicals such as “uranium” (Morales).  This has caused chronic, generational health conditions to arise within the Navajo’s and cause their immune systems to be more susceptible to diseases, such as COVID-19 (Morales). The African Americans being affected also have a long history of chronic illness such as HIV and heart disease due to systematic racism that limits resources (Dorn). Another big reason the Navajo’s are being affected is only 1/10 have electricity, meaning they don’t have places to store food so they are forced to go out more often, risking exposing themselves and others further (Groetzinger). Boarding schools are federally run by the BIE (Bureau of Indian Education) and are known to be secretive about the happenings involving the 46,000 students (Woods). Many of these schools didn’t close officially until March 25^th, despite the first confirmed case being on March 17^th, and there is currently an on-going investigation into whether faculty and students got sick as a result of this deliberate federal action (Woods). On top of this, due to the lack of electricity, many Navajo residents do not have WIFI so therefore completing school work has become increasingly difficult among the children.  Turning in paper work is not a plausible solution as it involves contact and driving to school parking lots to access WIFI is not only wasteful of gas, it is dangerous and inefficient (Groetzinger). There is a hopeful solution in the works of providing bus travel and hotspots in order to provide these children with the ability to learn and complete the classwork that many other children across America are dreading (Groetzinger). With Native American hospitals already lacking adequate resources to begin with, they are not equipped to handle the influx of patients and must transport them to other nearby hospitals (Morales).

Jonathan Nez has taken precautions like a curfew, social distancing, and closing casinos to stop the further spread of the disease (Morales). New York also has taken similar precautions, but due to the high population density it is harder to do this. Had governmental preparation and quick action to mitigate the disease been swifter and stronger than it was, these drastically negative consequences on Native American and African American communities might not have been as detrimental as they were. Historically in the United States, response to disease whether swift or not is always going to affect these communities that are first to slip through the cracks.          

While New York is first in line to receive resources and government funding, the African Americans are the last ones to receive these benefits.  Trump did say he would allocate roughly 8 million of the 2 trillion dollars of the stimulus money into the Native American communities. It is unclear whether this will actually happen, as promises made by the government towards the Natives have fallen short countless times. The solutions for both of these communities is reliance on the government that has proven time and time again to be indifferent. A smaller scale effort towards relief is through Go Fund Me pages available to help tribal elders with food as well as other causes (Morales). While the causes of disparities among Natives and African Americans are different, the similarity is the historical inequality deeply rooted in social and economic policies (Dorn) Despite all of this many Navajo families are clinging to the stories of strength and perseverance of the past instead of clinging onto the fear being sparked by social media like so many others.

Sources:

Associated Press. “Navajo Nation Now Has 1,206 Coronavirus Cases And 48 Deaths.” Nevada Public Radio, 2020, www.knpr.org/headline/2020-04/navajo-nation-now-has-1206-coronavirus-cases-and-48-deaths.   

Chappell, Bill. “Coronavirus Cases Spike In Navajo Nation, Where Water Service Is Often Scarce.” NPR, NPR, 26 Mar. 2020, www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/26/822037719/coronavirus-cases-spike-in-navajo-nation-where-water-service-is-often-scarce.

“COVID-19: Data.” COVID-19: Data - NYC Health, 2020, www.1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data.page.  

Dorn, Aaron van, et al. “COVID-19 Exacerbating Inequalities in the US.” The Lancet, 18 Apr. 2020, www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30893-X/fulltext.

Ebbs, Stephanie, and Cheyenne Haslett. “Indian Country Faces Higher Risks, Lack of Resources in COVID-19 Fight.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 3 Apr. 2020, www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/indian-country-faces-higher-risks-lack-resources-covid/story?id=69957760. 

Groetzinger, Kate. “Navajo Families Without Internet Struggle To Home-School During COVID-19 Pandemic.” NPR, NPR, 22 Apr. 2020, www.npr.org/2020/04/22/839948923/navajo-families-without-internet-struggle-to-homeschool-during-covid-19-pandemic.

Morales, Laurel. “As Coronavirus Cases Rise, Navajo Nation Tries To Get Ahead Of Pandemic.” NPR, NPR, 4 Apr. 2020, www.npr.org/2020/04/04/826780041/as-coronavirus-cases-rise-navajo-nation-tries-to-get-ahead-of-pandemic.

Sottile, Chiara, and Erik Ortiz. “Coronavirus Hits Indian Country Hard, Exposing Infrastructure Disparities.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 20 Apr. 2020, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coronavirus-hits-indian-country-hard-exposing-infrastructure-disparities-n1186976.

Woods, Alden. “A School on Navajo Nation Stayed Open. Then People Started Showing...” ProPublica, 7 Apr. 2020, www.propublica.org/article/a-school-on-navajo-nation-stayed-open-then-people-started-showing-symptoms.