Social Distancing and the American Indian

Written by: Josh Fullerton

Holmes, Richard. “Richard Holmes.” USA Online Casino, 24 Apr. 2018
 www.usaonlinecasino.com/casino-news/trump-officials-stall-indian-tribes-casino-plans-in-connecticut/. 

          “Telling indigenous Americans to stop gathering is like telling a leopard to change its spots.” (Bryan Newland, 2020) Bryan Newland is part of the Bay Mills Tribe in Michigan, serving as the President. “Tribes from everywhere in the United States grow up doing everything together: participating in religious ceremonies, sharing pipes, eating food from the same dishes. But the covid-19 pandemic makes our communal lifestyles a threat.” Just as we saw in the past few centuries with the creation of the Indian Boarding schools we are seeing a loss of tradition, a fear that has never really gone away.

            Tribes all over the country have recognized that their communal lifestyles and their traditions are far too dangerous to risk the health of others and many traditional ceremonies have already temporarily come to a halt. Fears about the loss of tradition have been mentioned but there’s another big fear that seems to be more concerning. A second big part of the Native American lifestyle that has come to a halt is the income revenue from American Indian Casinos, which like all other businesses of it’s kind have ceased operations.

            For many tribes casinos came into being out of need for a source of income. For some the casino is the ONLY source of income. Not only have people been laid off but the revenue brought in as a whole can’t be put towards other opportunities or public works programs for the tribe. This has spiraled the tribes back into the financial struggle they were in just fifty years ago. The financial struggle the casinos were created for to begin with. 

            In times of financial burden the tribes are among those who are affected the most. With widespread poverty already an issue within the community the fear shared between tribe members about Covid-19 isn’t unlike many other Americans out of work: “How are we going to feed and support our children?” This has brought many Americans to the mercy of the United States Government and whatever support programs they could potentially fund.

            “Housing on reservations is overcrowded, and nearly half of it can be considered substandard”...many homes aren’t connected to running water. “58 out of every 1,000 Native American households lack plumbing.” (Heidi A. Schultz, 2020) These high rates of food insecurity, poverty and lack of quality housing are what put Native American Tribes especially at risk for Covid-19. In some tribes the average lifespan is almost 6 full years shorter as compared to their white counterparts. (Heidi A. Schultz, 2020) This staggering statistic was well established before the global pandemic, which could very much bring the gap well into a ten or twelve years difference.

            Low access to healthcare has always been an issue on the reservation. Online video chat doctors that we’ve seen in recent years are a great resource for anyone without access to local healthcare. Unless you’re lucky to have a doctor who lives on the reservation you might be stuck with as much as an hours drive just to be seen. (healthaffairs.org)

            Any government assistance will always be rather slow to arrive. Just as the $1200 checks took weeks to pass all three branches of the government more specialized assistance will take even longer. Luckily there are a few non-profit organizations out there that are working to bring funding and food to tribes around the country, like The Native American Community Response Fund and other resources that work for not just Native Americans, but all Americans like Feeding America and Meals on wheels. (healthaffairs.org)These organizations could mean the difference between starvation and living a long and healthy life.

            Tribes who use a casino as their main source of income have partnered together to ask the United States Government for $18,000,000,000 in assistance so they can continue payment on any loans they’ve received and continue health and education services they can’t provide without it. (Reuters.com, 2020)

These casinos employ over 700,000 people both directly and indirectly and brought in over 37,000,000,000 in revenue to the United States economy in 2017 alone. (Reuters.com, 2020) This means they are capable of bringing in over twice the income they are requesting.

“The federal government still provides most funds to tribes through treaties, negotiated generations ago, guaranteeing money for education, public safety, basic infrastructure, health and other services.” (Reuters.com, 2020) These treaties should provide the grounds for the billions requested in “bail out” type funding. Tribes can’t provide health, safety or education for their members.

What many organizations want the public to know is how difficult life can be for a modern day American Indian. These issues aren’t arrising now that Covid has taken over our lives. Even when we are not in the midst of a pandemic, life for many Natives is difficult, and access to good care is limited. The problems are only amplified at this time. (Healthaffaires.com)

Sources:

Hay, Andrew. “As American Indian Casinos Close for Coronavirus, Industry Seeks $18 Billion Aid.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 17 Mar. 2020, www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-nativeamerican/as-american-indian-casinos-close-for-coronavirus-industry-seeks-18-billion-aid-idUSKBN214467.

Newland, Bryan. “Opinion | Indigenous Americans Must Not Once Again Pay the Price for the Mistakes of Others.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 25 Mar. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/25/coronavirus-social-distancing-could-devastate-tribal-communities/.

Schultz, Heidi A. “Native American Communities And COVID-19: How Foundations Can Help.” Native American Communities And COVID-19: How Foundations Can Help | Health Affairs, 31 Mar. 2020, www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200331.659944/full/.