COVID-19 Daily News Digest – April 29, 2020
OPINION | N.W.T. mines are COVID-19 time bombs — let’s put people over profit
But what happens when the economy depends on resource extraction so much that governments put industry health over worker health?
Look south of the border. Alberta has kept crowding workers in oil sands camps to extract barrels of oil worth less than a cup of coffee. As a result, an outbreak at the Kearl Lake camp has infected 37 workers with COVID-19. Most returned home as far as B.C. and Nova Scotia before showing any symptoms of the virus.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/covid-19-time-bombs-nwt-1.5547339
Nunavut daycares say they’re at risk of going bankrupt during pandemic
“The fragile ELCC sector in Nunavut requires urgent financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are requesting immediate sector-specific aide from the federal government and the Government of Nunavut,” the letter states.
Well-developed Plant Medicine alternative cure for COVID-19 – KNII
“The efficacy of plant medicine, had our grandparents, using certain plants to cure diagnosed patients, with positive outcomes of good health and long life,” he said.
Dr. Anyagre appealed to government and the private sector in Ghana to support the Mampong Center for Plant Medicine, and also encourage such initiatives throughout the country.
Coronavirus: Will governments repeat mistakes of pandemics past in Indigenous communities?
Diane Longboat, a traditional healer from Six Nations Reserve, struck a similar chord. She says governments should set up an “Indigenous command centre,” to coordinate COVID-19 response, including mental health supports for remote communities without internet access.
She’s also advocating the collection of COVID-19 health data on Indigenous communities “so we can better prepare for the second, third and fourth wave that may come.”
https://nowtoronto.com/news/coronavirus-indigenous-communities-canada/
Canadian province sends nurses to northern community hit by COVID-19
Gull Bay First Nation, where the first nurse sent by the province arrived a week and a half ago and two others are expected in the coming days, has seven confirmed cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
COVID-19 is making the N.W.T.’s many problems more urgent, finance minister tells feds
“COVID-19 is giving us an opportunity to say, ‘Where [do] we want to be in five years? And what can we do right now as we’re going to be engaging in a very different way of approaching some of these problems in the coming months?” she said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nwt-government-wants-federal-government-covid19-1.5547829
‘Warrior Up’ COVID-19 PSA features well-known Indigenous actors, artists, and leaders
The campaign, called Warrior Up, was created by IllumiNative, a nonprofit launched to increase the visibility of Indigenous people in the United States. The campaign includes a public service announcement featuring a slew of Indigenous actors, artists, and political leaders, and allies.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/warrior-up-psa-campaign-covid19-1.5548167
Trying times for Indigenous, remote tourism operators
Marcil suggested it would be helpful if the government waived costs like the annual Crown resource fees for bear management areas, land use permits and bait harvester licences. These are annual fees that tourism businesses in Northern Ontario pay in order to continue to offer some outdoor experiences on Crown land. The approximate total of these annual fees to the industry is $1.2 million.
Ottawa Inuit organization focuses on food security during pandemic
Last month, as COVID-19 restrictions kicked in, TI shut down its public programs, which included the residential Mamisarvik healing program.
Since then, TI has tried to transform itself from a bricks-and-mortar service provider to one that still offers essential help, but at a safe distance.
Quebec Indigenous leaders balk at reopening schools too early
Attendance will be optional and Premier Francois Legault says the health care system is prepped if a second wave of coronavirus or COVID-19 strikes.
But Indigenous leaders in the province say reopening their schools won’t be as easy.
‘Namgis elder’s death heightens concern in First Nations island communities
“It’s just reinforced, in my mind, that we’ve got an invisible enemy and that our village must stay on guard and keep doing what we’re doing,” Quadra Island We Wai Kai councillor Ted Lewis on his nation’s reserve lockdown with the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 claims first Indigenous elder in B.C.
What Mountain, 59, thought was her annual cold, turned out to be the coronavirus.
It made her so sick she died within three weeks, leaving behind four children and many grandchildren.
David Suzuki: COVID-19 crisis brings out our best, but we must remain vigilant
We know that protecting nature and respecting our interdependence with it are key to reducing risks of everything from disease spread to pollution to climate catastrophe. The barriers aren’t from a shortage of solutions but only from lack of political will.
COVID-19 outbreak reported at Bearspaw First Nation; number of provincial hospitalizations rise to 87
“I do not want this number of deaths to become just one more statistic. The same is true for all those in ICU and hospital, where numbers of those needing hospital treatment has increased over the past few days. These cases illustrate that infection with this virus has serious consequences for many people,” said Hinshaw.
https://calgaryherald.com/news/live-at-330-p-m-province-to-provide-update-on-covid-19-response-2/
Canada: The Indigenous Community Support Fund And Other Covid-19 Assistance For Indigenous Governments
There are two key aspects of the assistance plan. The first aspect, which was rolled out in the early stages of the Federal Government’s COVID-19 response, is to provide Indigenous governments with financial assistance through existing channels. The second aspect is the Indigenous Community Support Fund originally announced on March 18, 2020, the details of which have only recently become available. We will discuss each aspect of the assistance plan in turn
COVID-19 threatens to hit indigenous communities hard as church leaders step up support
Despite such parallels, the range of regional experiences has been nearly as diverse as the American Indian tribes that were represented on the call. Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, for example, was on lockdown until April 26, when those restrictions expired. So far, no coronavirus outbreak has been identified there. The situation is more alarming for the Navajo Nation, which covers 27,000 square miles in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Tribal leaders there have implemented rolling curfews as they respond to dozens of new coronavirus cases each day.
EXPERTS FEAR COVID-19 WILL “WREAK HAVOC” ON INDIGENOUS TRIBES
Without government support in Brazil, indigenous communities are trying to take matters into their own hands and protect their communities, both from widespread infections and the economic devastation that the pandemic can bring with it.
But that’s proving difficult, the agroecologists write, because the state’s lockdown measures are preventing them from making money at local markets
https://futurism.com/neoscope/experts-fear-covid19-wreak-havoc-indigenous-tribes
Translating COVID-19 advice into indigenous languages, sharing culture and safety
“Our languages are alive and being used today, so we wanted to put this really important messaging out there to our communities and have these safe practices that are being advised,” said Allan Hayton, director of Doyon Foundation’s Language Revitalization Program.
IDENTIFYING DIFFERENCES IN COVID-19 RATES ON AMERICAN INDIAN RESERVATIONS
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. This research has been accepted for publication in the July 2020 issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.
Indigenous technological solutions to Covid-19 sought
“Regionalism could become more popular, offering new opportunities,” he said, adding that all institutions should work together to lessen the suffering of the people.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2209441/1-indigenous-technological-solutions-covid-19-sought/
How coronavirus is affecting indigenous people in the Amazon
Among indigenous communities on the urban fringes in the Napo, there is a surge of interest in planting medicinal trees and plants in response to the pandemic. However, for the increasing number of indigenous families who do not have access to land – their territories invaded, degraded, and split into ever smaller parcels – the situation is catastrophic. Unsurprisingly, women and children suffer most, as alcohol consumption and domestic violence grow alongside boredom and desperation.
Agnico Eagle wants to pipe salty water from Meliadine gold mine to Melvin Bay
“I believe Agnico Eagle’s proposed changes for the disposal of saline influent from the Meliadine mine site must be fully reviewed and reassessed, which would include a detailed community consultation, before approvals could be considered,” said Rankin Inlet resident John Zawadski in his seven-page comment.
COVID-19 Did Not Cause Food Insecurity In Indigenous Communities But It Will Make It Worse
At the least, this pandemic has exposed how much of a threat is posed to Indigenous communities when there is a public health crisis (or where a public health crisis compounds an existing crisis). And more, how little support there is.
We have to look beyond short-term emergency driven solutions to address food insecurity for Indigenous peoples in Canada and for the long-term. That includes addressing infrastructure issues and those that have existed in many Indigenous communities for a long time.
Indigenous musicians go viral with COVID-19 awareness video, ‘Wash Your Hands’
“Music is not just an entertainment vehicle in remote communities it is part of everyday life it informs, it instructs and it carries cultural weight so it is a perfect vehicle for a COVID campaign,” he said.