Philippa Thomas of the BBC World Service speaks with Protect Native Elders‘ Indigenous Outreach Coordinator, Jo Overton. This extended interview is a deeper dive into the current situation, the historical context of broken treaties, and the effective, collaborative model of PNE. Watch this powerful interview here.
Because of its unique legal status and decades of neglect from the federal government, the Navajo Nation has often been excluded from water infrastructure projects, according to NPR. To make matters worse, groundwater in the region has been heavily contaminated by mining and other extractive industries, which has left many Navajo people with pre-existing conditions that further expose them to the virus.
As lockdown and curfew measures continue, families are having a harder time getting water, according to Bleu Adams (Mandan/Hidatsa, Diné), a Navajo activist, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Protect Native Elders.
She said that many families are beginning to ration water.
Read the complete article here.
Read the complete story here.
American Indians face an acute risk from COVID-19. The loss of elders is a blow to their cultures.
The Spokane people have an unusual way of saying “he got sick”: in their form of the Salish language it translates literally as “he was greeted by an illness”, using the ordinary verb for one person greeting another. In Spokane culture, illnesses are considered entities, like animals or humans. Though they may be enemies, they are to be treated with respect, not fear.
Read this powerful piece here.
Bleu Adams, a Navajo business owner and co-founder of the volunteer group “Protect Native Elders” which is distributing relief to native communities, tells Lawrence O’Donnell the “lack of infrastructure regarding access to electricity, water and internet” makes it challenging to contain the spread of coronavirus. Watch the segment here.
Bleu Adams on MSNBC’s “Last Word”
Protect Native Elders, a Native-led volunteer organization providing support to tribal communities, says inadequate infrastructure among tribal communities makes distributing supplies during coronavirus more difficult.
“There are no distribution systems, phones, electricity or broadband service and terrible roads in most rural areas,” Bleu Adams, Navajo business owner and cofounder of Protect Native Elders, said.
Read the complete article here https://www.insider.com/navajo-nation-doctors-without-borders-helping-fight-coronavirus-2020-5
