Forgotten: How COVID-19 Exacerbates Inequities for Indigenous Communities (Part 1)

Having lived in Arizona for nearly 15 years, I am thankful for several things: the ability to withstand triple-degree heat, the iridescent sunsets and grooved rock formations, and the #RedForEd Movement. However, it has taken a global pandemic for me to seriously consider the cultural and socioeconomic ramifications of the exploitation of certain communities in my state—specifically, the Indigenous communities. Despite having lived less than a mile away from an Indian reservation for years, I only recently realized how forgotten the Indigenous identity and experience were—on local, national, and even global levels—and how resulting inequities have become even more apparent in light of the pandemic. Perhaps I am not alone in feeling this way, as I have noticed a dramatic increase in the dissemination of news concerning the Navajo Nation in the media. 

As a supplement to the growing awareness of how COVID-19 is affecting Indigenous communities, I plan on exploring how the pandemic has taken a toll on Indigenous demographics around the world. In the first part of this series, I will focus on the intersection of the Indigenous status and health in North America and Oceania.

North America: Indigenous Women (Canada)

As emphasized by guest writer Oliver, stay-at-home orders have acted as a double-edged sword for those who face some sort of violence at home. In a brief by the United Nations, it was found that violence against women and girls “has intensified” in light of the pandemic even among more developed countries, with a 30-percent increase in domestic violence reports in France since the start of its lockdown and a 33-percent increase in helpline calls in Singapore. 

But how is the situation affecting Indigenous women in more developed countries? I decided to take a look at Canada.

Apparently, there has been a drastic increase. Ganǫhkwásra` Family Assault Support Services, a resource center in the First Nations reserve of Six Nations of the Grand River, received nearly twice as many calls as Canada’s restriction measures started to kick in. The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) started conducting grassroots consultations with local member offices and Indigenous women across the country. Along with consultations, the organization conducted a survey that revealed that one in five Indigenous women in Canada reported being a victim of “physical or psychological violence over the past three months.”

Although the Canadian government designated “$40 million in funding to Women and Gender Equality Canada” and $30 million for the “‘immediate needs’ of shelters and sexual assault centres,” NWAC President Lorraine Whitman suggested that the promise was a shallow one. She explained that such resources may still be inaccessible for Indigenous people because they “are not run for or by Indigenous people.” Whitman added that such shelters and centers are “not culturally influenced or inclusive of the Indigenous values that we have and our traditions and ceremonies.’”

Oceania: The Māori (New Zealand)

While New Zealand has been receiving much positive news coverage for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s decisive and calm demeanor as the country has been shaken figuratively by the pandemic and literally by this past weekend’s earthquake, there is still a failure to speak to the unmet needs of the native people. According to results from New Zealand’s 2018 Census, Māori are the second-largest ethnic group after the European ethnic group at 16.5 percent of the New Zealander population. However, according to research conducted by the University of Auckland, coronavirus fatality rates for Māori is an estimated 2.5 times that of New Zealand Europeans with respect to underlying health conditions. 

In an article for The Guardian, Shilo Kino—a journalist of Māori descent—stresses the “living reality” of the poor health status of her people. She lists away: “Māori rates of mortality of all types of cancer are [twice that] of non-Māori [and] more than two and a half times” for all cardiovascular diseases. The Māori who are over 35 years old are “twice as likely to die from heart failure” compared to non-Māori […] I could go on and on.”

Although the government released the Initial COVID-19 Māori Response Action Plan as a specific protocol to address such inequities, the National Māori Pandemic Group pointed out several flaws in the Plan, including unclear objectives, no set time frame, no comprehensible accountability measures, and a lack of acknowledgement of the role of Māori health providers, tribes, and subtribes. On the other hand, Deputy Director-General for Māori health John Whaanga says that many beneficial initiatives have been developed under the Plan, including the establishment of 79 Community-Based Assessment Centres and the deliverance of over 86,000 care and hygiene packages with the assurance of 40,000 more. 

So what?

The intersection of social status and health resources has been wrangled even more by COVID-19. Although separated by an ocean, it seems that certain Indigenous communities in both Canada and New Zealand have grappled with and have feared the despairingly familiar threat of being set aside out of cultural apathy, and they continue to face such situations. 

This is both a biological and a sociocultural pandemic. 

In writing this piece, I struggled to find more recent sources concerning indigneous people and their experiences with COVID-19, and I fear knowing the reason why.

So what? The first step to take in recognizing injustice is to learn about certain issues and related resources, as I learned from a webinar on justice and politics by Theon Hill, an assistant professor of communication at Wheaton College. The first step is to learn.

In my next piece for this series, I will be exploring the intersection of the Indigenous status and health in South America, Africa, and Asia. Until then, here are some resources to help you stay informed about what is going on with Indigenous communities: National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Navajo Times, The World Bank, Human Rights Watch, Nonprofit Quarterly, and The World Economic Forum.

Note: Article has been updated to capitalize the “I” in “Indigenous” out of respect for the sociocultural implications of nomenclature.