Impact of the Coronavirus on Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous populations across the United States have been disproportionately impacted by the novel coronavirus. NPR reports that “if the Navajo Nation were a state, it would have the highest rate of coronavirus cases per capita after New York.” As of May 14, 103 members have died from the virus and 3,979 have tested positive. While that statistic can be partially explained by an increase of testing in the Navajo nation (8% of the population, versus the US’s 2%), there are structural reasons why indigenous people are more affected by the virus. 

To start, the virus is devastating communities without solid infrastructure. A study conducted by a team of researchers from UCLA and University of Arizona published in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice analyzed disparities in COVID-19 rates on Indian American Reservations. The researchers found that the virus was more likely to be contracted in “tribal communities with a higher proportion of homes lacking indoor plumbing, even when taking into account other characteristics like household size, age, and income.” 

Why are the infrastructure and health system of indigenous states so unprepared for the pandemic? It stems from generations of oversight and disregard of American Indian treaties by the US government (not to mention the coercive and oppressive nature of the treaties in the first place). An article by David Jones, MD PhD in the American Journal of Public Health reports that health disparities between indigenous populations and white Americans have been constant for the past 500 years. The consistent disparities are rooted in a combination of inadequate education, discrimination in health services delivery, disproportionate poverty, cultural differences, and potentially genetic differences. 

The US government has been critically ineffective at addressing these health disparities and caring for indigenous population’s health as promised in land treaties. An article from NPR shows that the 4.8 billion dollars given to the IHS results in a per capita allotment of $1,297 dollars. The article compares that to $6,973 per inmate in the federal prison system. Among the further lack of funding for necessities like paved roads, plumbing, electricity, and Wi-Fi, among many others, it is unsurprising that the system has been failing in response to the virus. 

Additionally, indigenous people aren’t included in the US’s public health data regarding COVID-19. This isn’t new—states often categorize indigenous people in the ‘other’ category and rarely identify them by tribe. A Guardian analysis found that of the 80% of state health departments that have released some racial demographic data, almost half of them categorized the ethnic group as ‘other.’ On top of rampant racial misclassification of American Indians as Latinx or Hispanic, this means COVID-19’s impact on indigenous communities will be grossly underestimated. 

Currently, the main source of data regarding the infections and deaths of indigenous people is coming from the Indian Health Service (IHS), which is reporting coronavirus testing results daily on their website. Due to the lack of healthcare infrastructure, the IHS cannot provide intensive care for critically ill constituents in their facilities, so they are transferred to non-IHS facilities. This transfer means the IHS cannot track hospitalization and mortality data. Additionally, the Guardian analysis reports that even within the IHS jurisdiction, whose healthcare not every indigenous person uses, only 17% of facilities are required to report their data, and only a third of non-mandatory data reporting facilities are doing so. 

This has implications on social policy and monetary aid towards indigenous folks. As the Native American Lifelines of Baltimore, an urban indigenous health and services provider, puts it, “Data = dollars. No data, no dollars.” Given that many senators are pushing to wait and see how the country fares before legislating more relief packages, it is even more necessary to include the impact on indigenous peoples. A better understanding of how the coronavirus is impacting indigenous communities would also provide context-specific and higher quality policies to enact. For example, accurate public health data would allow researchers to correlate data to expand the specific infrastructure needed to best combat the virus with an allotted budget.

The UCLA and University of Arizona study concluded that “urgent funding to strengthen tribal public health and household infrastructure, as delineated in treaties and other agreements, is necessary to protect American Indian communities from COVID-19 and future pandemics.” Recently, the CARES Act, passed in March, promised 8 billion dollars to tribes, with the Navajo Nation receiving 600 million dollars. In an interview with NPR published on May 13, Jonathan Nez, the president of Navajo Nation, remarked that the nation, along with other tribes, had only received 60% of the promised funding just a week prior. The nation plans to put the money towards personal protective equipment, hazard pay, and food supplies and distribution. The portion of funding isn’t enough to erase centuries of broken promises predicated on the assumption of an ethnic group’s eventual eradication, but it is a start. 

In the meantime, one of the ways that we can support indigenous folks is with mutual aid. The following links are just a few of the many fundraisers and drives for indigenous populations across the United States. 

by PRANATHI SRIRANGAM

Lex Perspectives