COVID-19 Daily News Digest – May 13, 2020
COVID-19 in Sask: Senior medical health officer warns stigma may prevent testing
Kryzanowski said there have been instances where people have reported that they do not want to be tested if they could be identified as having COVID-19, especially in small communities where confidentiality is more of a concern.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/covid-19-health-authority-update-may-12-2020-1.5566443
RCMP ‘had no understanding’ of sun dance ceremony that was interrupted, dancer says
“This took us back to 150 years ago when all of our people had to go underground. They had to hide. They had to hide who they were.”
Bear said the officers who approached the lodge had their weapons with them. Although the guns were holstered, he described that as “one of the greatest sins you could ever commit,” because the ceremony is about creation, life and protecting life.
Over 450 Indigenous COVID-19 cases across Canada and 7 deaths, reports Yellowhead Institute
“By only reporting what is happening on-reserve, the realities of Indigenous Peoples are erased. Indigenous Peoples do not only live on-reserve, nor do they live in ‘distinction-based’ silos in urban and rural places.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/yellowhead-institute-coronavirus-report-1.5565954
Traditional indigenous beliefs are a powerful tool for understanding the pandemic
Those deeply rooted experiences can lead to acceptance, especially among elders. “They have been through so much and experienced so much that there’s no need to fear or even panic,” says Tiokasin Ghosthorse, the Stoneridge, New York-based host of First Voices Radio and a member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation from South Dakota. “It’s almost like this [pandemic] is familiar.”
Amazon indigenous leader: Our survival is at stake. You can help (commentary)
On behalf of all of my brothers and sisters here, I beg you to help us protect ourselves from the new coronavirus. If we don’t raise the alarm now, our peoples and cultures could disappear from the planet.
Do COVID-19 rules apply on reserve? Golf course may test the question
McPherson says the Federal Emergency Management Act takes precedence over provincial regulations. The act makes the federal government responsible for ensuring First Nations have access to “emergency management services comparable to those available to provincial residents.”
Manitoba First Nations share what back-to-school could look like next fall
“Ensuring that we have the adequate space for our children is going to be a huge undertaking,” said Chief Lance Roulette, adding physical distancing will be a key factor and a potentially “gruelling task.”
The First Nation’s pandemic planning team and educators are working on ways to accommodate everyone, once it is safe to return.
Indigenous restaurant owners adopt new business models to try and ride out pandemic
I have some key staff that are wanting to come back to work. They want to work hard with me and we’re going to give it a go,” said Feast owner Christa Bruneau-Guenther.
Like Nish Dish, Bruneau-Guenther plans on expanding an online site that offers locally sourced, Indigenous-made products along with a new and improved takeout menu.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/restaurant-coronavirus-business-adapt-1.5566900
Anti-racism campaign aims to condemn discrimination amid the pandemic
“You would hope that people would learn from the past. We see a real history of racism and discrimination and xenophobia taking place. I do think that just because someone may hold a certain belief of misinformation doesn’t mean that they can’t change or they can’t change their belief system,” she said.
Temporary shelters for COVID-19 preparedness in Pukatawagan only part of federal response
“The department collaborated with Public Services and Procurement Canada to undertake a request for proposals for specialized mobile structures to support enhanced screening/triage, the isolation of community members, and additional accommodation space for health professionals to ensure that Pukatawagan and other communities with similar needs have the resources they need, when or if they need them,” said Michelson. “In this case, the primary care staff working in the community indicated that the current facilities did not have sufficient capacity to respond to a potential outbreak.”
‘Disrespectful and threatening treatment’: Northern Sask. leaders say COVID-19 checkpoints fraught with issues
“Wouldn’t let me talk,” he said “I tried to explain myself and he just kept cutting me off and exercising his authority, saying ‘This is a health order, turn around and go home’, just wouldn’t let me say my piece at all.”
Iron says some families in his community rely on social assistance, and if he can’t get through checkpoints, they won’t be able to get cheques to pay their bills.
“We don’t want to fight, we want to make sure that we work with the provincial government for the safety of everyone.”
Clean water is key for Navajo Nation, other tribes, to avoid next pandemic
Access to water is the single most substantial challenge for tribal citizens. The Navajo Nation has experienced significant drought, limiting water resources for domestic and livestock uses.
And improper containment at abandoned uranium mines means groundwater that otherwise could be treated if costly facilities were built is instead contaminated with uranium.
Finding hope in the time Of Covid-19
Right now it makes me feel good to know that many of my family members and friends up the James Bay coast are heading out on to the land for the traditional spring goose hunt.
There are many stories being told under the shimmering northern lights. The children are playing, relationships are being renewed and the old ways our Elders have taught us are proving to be more valuable than anything we have learned in this life. Out there on the land, in fresh cool clean air in the tracks of our ancestors, there is hope.
Indigenous community sets up camp on Darling River to avoid coronavirus risk in overcrowded homes
“It’s a lovely thing to do, I’ve camped out here since I was young but we never had tents. It’s luxury to us now.”
He said he was thrilled to have the chance to teach his family about culture and the river after years of it being mostly dry.
‘We waited for weeks’: Tribal governments in line for additional coronavirus relief
But with the $8 billion still tied up in litigation and red tape in Washington, Democrats are seeking to provide more direction to the Trump administration, whose handling of the fund is being investigated by government watchdogs. The new bill, also known as the HEROES Act, addresses some major policy issues that diverted Indian Country’s attention at the worst possible time, with the coronavirus leading to positive cases and even deaths at high rates in some tribal communities.
https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/05/12/we-waited-for-weeks-tribal-governments-a.asp
Covid-19: Returning to our indigenous foods has never been more imperative
And as the world grapples with finding answers to the Covid-19 pandemic, this crisis has illuminated more than ever before the centrality of good nutritious diets toward fighting diseases
‘Alberta didn’t contain it’: COVID-19 outbreak at oilsands camp has spread across the country
By the end of April, workers from Kearl had unwittingly spread COVID-19 to a remote northern Saskatchewan Dene village, starting an outbreak that killed two elders, and into a long-term care home in British Columbia. Cases have also been reported in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. The outbreak now spans 106 cases in five provinces, including Alberta.
Indigenous organization says it’s taking Ottawa to court over ‘discriminatory’ COVID-19 aid
“The application seeks to address the fact that despite the federal government’s laudable goals, the funding allocations have been discriminatory and at the expense of the doubly-disadvantaged Indigenous population served by CAP,” said the statement.
“The large majority of Canada’s Indigenous population lives off-reserve and this court action addresses the needs of this population,” said the statement.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/congress-aboriginal-peoples-coronavirus-funding-1.5567059
Indigenous tribes hit by oil spill in Ecuador ‘refused treatment because of Covid-19’
Around 120,000 people from around 150 indigenous communities living along the Coca and Napo river banks in the Amazon region are thought to have been affected by the accident.
The accident in Orellana province, near the Peruvian border, occured on April 7 when a landslide ruptured three of the country’s main pipelines.