COVID 19 Navajo Nation Summer 2020

1. STEAMBOAT (AFP).- Emerson Gorman knows what it's like to face the destruction of his culture: when he was five-years-old he was among thousands of Navajo children taken from their families and sent to Christian schools that tried to erase their belief systems.
Now 66, the traditional healer who lives on the largest Native American reservation in the United States sees it as his duty to pass on his wisdom, at a time when the community elders face an existential threat from the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's very important to talk about our history, our rituals and ceremonies," said Gorman, a tall, well-built man with weathered features, who lives on a large homestead at the center of the Navajo Nation, where he and his family raise livestock and grow corn, fruit, and herbs.
Handing down the medicine he practices is particularly important, he says, because "we know that we're being taken care of and we're connected to the natural energy, to the spirits and the natural world."
A preponderance of poverty linked conditions like diabetes, obesity and heart disease -- combined with the fact that 30 to 40 percent of the Navajo Nation's population of 175,000 have no access to running water -- have made this territory one of the hardest hit zones in the US.
With more than 5,500 confirmed cases and 250 deaths, its per capita fatality rate lies just behind the state of New York, and much like everywhere else, it's the elderly who are the most impacted.
What makes things unique is the position the elderly hold in Native culture, as repositories of the community's knowledge which must be passed down orally to honor tradition.
"The fact that this illness is affecting elders disproportionately is very scary to native peoples. It's a huge source of anxiety," said Allison Barlow, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health (CAIH), which has worked in the territory since the 1990s.
"There was an era when the federal government suppressed the teaching of language, the teaching of culture," she told AFP, referring to Indian boarding schools, which ran from the 1860s to the late 1970s.
Teachers at the school attended by Gorman forced boys to cut their long braids, forbid them from speaking their language, told them that their religion was "evil" and tried to force them to convert to Catholicism.
Loss of language
In Monument Valley, one of the Navajo Nation's most iconic regions that is home to colossal sandstone formations , Lanell Mernard-Parrish, a treasurer for the local chapter of the Navajo government, is piling boxes into people's cars at distribution drive for those in need.
Vehicles carrying those aged 60 and above are identified by tape on their windshields -- volunteers cry "Elders!" when they come into view, and give them extra supplies, a sign of the high esteem they are held in.
Mernard-Parrish's voice breaks as she recaps a recent death in the family: that of her mother-in-law, who was 60.
"As soon as we found out she was ill, they took her in. And from the day that she was tested positive, she only stayed another six days, and then we lost her," said Mernard-Parrish, who is in her forties.
She is also sorry for her five children who have now lost a grandparent, a crucial link to their past.
Growing up, she said, "I was fortunate to have been around all four of my grandparents" -- but many of her generation lost their grandfathers early due to the expansive uranium mining that began in the Navajo Nation after World War Two.
According to researchers, the US government effectively carried out a mass human experiment on Navajo miners by failing to disclose the cancer risks of radiation while studying its impact on them.
"We're losing our language, and I think losing a grandparent has a lot to contribute to that," she said.
This is particularly the case for those Navajo who leave the reservation in search of economic opportunities and are no longer educated in Navajo schools or raised among the extended family.
Revival efforts
Back at their homestead, Gorman says he's been inundated with calls from people asking that he perform blessings to ward off COVID-19, often by phone.
He and his family follow official advice to wear face masks and wash their hands frequently.
But they also emphasize the use of herbs, pointing out the sage, yucca and juniper he grows to treat various ailments.
Back in 2004, his wife Beverly began a camp for the Nation's children to revive their culture and preserve tradition.
As a grandmother herself in a predominantly matriarchal society, she hands down the teachings of her foremothers.
Lessons include the Navajo language (Dine bizaad), history, herbs, rabbit trapping, making arrowheads and learning how to make fire with bow drills.
She has also set to song the "Blessingway" a prayer performed in the morning facing the rising sun in the east in order to bless and protect the home.
Naiyahnikai Gorman, 21, the youngest of Emerson and Beverly's eight children, wants to carry their legacy forward.
A research assistant at Johns Hopkins' CAIH, she is hoping to go to medical school and then start a center offering both Western and Navajo medicine.
https://artdaily.cc/news/124272/Navajo-face-loss-of-elders-and-traditions-to-COVID-19#.X2ZowmhKhsA


2. COVID-19 Ravages the Navajo Nation
By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, June 9, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. center hardest hit by COVID-19 isn't headline-grabbing New York City; it's the Navajo Nation in the American southwest.
About the size of West Virginia and situated on 27,000 square miles of land spread across Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, Navajo Nation is home to approximately 175,000 people.
It's also home to a coronavirus infection rate of more than 3.4% and more than 6,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the Navajo Nation Department of Health.
By comparison, New York state has an infection rate of 1.9%.
"This virus didn't originate on the Navajo Nation," said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez. "But we got hit pretty hard."
How did this happen?
One big issue is a lack of infrastructure that was a problem long before the new coronavirus appeared, said Dr. Sriram Shamasunder, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He is also the
Shamasunder said many Navajo Nation residents lack basic amenities that most Americans take for granted.
"I would say that one-third of the population doesn't have electricity or running water," he said, and "that means that while 'shelter-in-place' may for us be an inconvenience, for many Native Americans it's an impossibility. If you don't have a refrigerator to store food, or water to drink, then you're not going to be able to just stay at home."
Then there's hunger. A 2016 "Hunger Report" issued by the Bread for the World Institute noted that grocery stores, convenience stores and fresh produce are either hard to find or unaffordable for many Navajo Nation residents, 44% of whom live below the poverty line. As a result, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has classified all of the Navajo Nation a "food desert."
'Spread like wildfire'
There are cultural factors making the Navajo more vulnerable to COVID-19's spread, as well. Social distancing, for example, is an especially tough concept in this context.
"The Navajo have a very beautiful expansive definition of family, with many generations often living under one roof," Shamasunder said.
And, Nez added, "We're social people, just like anybody else. Only when we talk about social people here on the Navajo Nation, and in many tribal communities, it's just not gathering with your friends or your immediate or extended family, because we also have clan families. And our clans often come together from all parts of the Navajo Nation."
In fact, Nez said that contact tracing efforts have traced the first cluster of infections back to a single weekend during which a traditional gathering, a church event and a series of birthday parties helped spread the virus.
"Clans came together from every corner of the Navajo Nation, got infected, and then returned home where it then spread like wildfire among small tight-knit rural communities," he said.
Factors like these make containing COVID-19 an even bigger challenge. According to Nez, an IHS (Indian Health Service) "surge projection" analysis done in March indeed predicted the worst: that Navajo health care facilities would be completely overwhelmed by mid-May.
Those facilities were already among the most underfunded and understaffed in America, however.
Challenges and resilience

"It is evident that the USA's health care system wasn't equipped to handle a pandemic like COVID-19," Nez said, "but that is even more so in tribal communities."
The IHS, operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides health care to 574 tribes throughout the country. "But since its inception, it's been underfunded," Nez said.
Shamasunder agreed. "From a funding stand-point, Native American health has never been prioritized. The IHS gets funded at one-third the amount of money per capita as Medicare or the VA," he said.
Nez added, "That means we don't have that many emergency beds or intensive care units or doctors," despite huge ongoing health care needs. Navajos have a 20% diabetes rate and a high incidence of heart disease, he said, and both conditions are also known risk factors for severe COVID-19.
U.S. government-led uranium mining for bomb-making purposes has also left a legacy of high cancer rates, Nez noted.
But despite the need, in 2019 the IHS calculated the overall physician vacancy rate at 26%, rising to as high as 40% in some Navajo areas.
Shamasunder and his colleagues at HEAL have been working with the Navajo tribe to help bolster health care infrastructure. Since 2015, 52 HEAL fellows have offered staff support as well as training for local medical workers in hospital and care centers all across Navajo Nation.
And since the pandemic began, HEAL has sent an additional team of 35 volunteer nurses and doctors with particular skills in critical care, intensive care, acute care, hospital medicine and emergency medicine. The Navajo Nation has also welcomed offers of assistance from other well-known aid organizations, including Doctors Without Borders.
Efforts at preventing new cases of COVID-19 have come from the Navajo Nation itself.
"We didn't roll over and feel sorry for ourselves," Nez said. "As we say in our language, we are 'Five-Fingered Beings.' And we were resilient. We came together to get through this pandemic. We went door-to-door. Even before the first person contracted the virus we issued a public health emergency. And we used our sovereign ability to govern ourselves to issue strict public health orders."
Those orders included closing Navajo businesses, government offices and visitor access. It meant mandating masks and organizing food and supplies distribution to encourage people to stay at home. It also included some of the strictest lockdown measures in the United States, with mandatory 57-hour shelter-in-place orders each weekend.
"We just got done with our eighth weekend curfew, which lasts from 8 p.m. on Friday to 5 a.m. on Monday. And during the week, curfews last from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. every day," said Nez.
Beating the projections
Those measures paid off, at least initially. "If we were a state," said Nez, "we would've been one of the last -- maybe the 47th or 48th state -- to get a COVID-positive case. That's how hard we pushed."
But in the end the virus broke through. So far 277 Navajos have died, according to numbers released Friday by the Navajo Nation Department of Health.
Every one of those deaths is a tragedy, Nez said, but he remains proud of the Nation's efforts against the virus.
"We didn't have much federal assistance at the beginning," he said, "but our citizens listened to their doctors, their police officers, their public health experts. So this is not just about how the poor, poor Navajo got hit hard. We were very aggressive. Particularly with testing. We reached out to universities and organizations for test kits. And per capita we surpass all 50 states -- and many countries throughout the world -- in terms of population tested," Nez explained.
"So, yes, we're still seeing our cases rise," said Nez. "But our health care facilities didn't get maxed out. We beat the projections. And based on what we're seeing, we're flattening out, and I would say that we've done a very good job as a Nation. And we hope that trend continues."
More good news came two weeks ago, in the form of an infusion of COVID-19 relief cash specifically earmarked for the Navajo Nation, with Congressional passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March. Following a drawn-out court battle, the Nation has so far received 60% of the $600 million it's due, Nez added.
He stressed that despite the Navajo Nation's immediate need for food, meds and supplies, addressing the "bigger picture" issue of long-standing neglect is what's key.
"What I say is contact your congressman and senator and tell them that there needs to be a better relationship between the federal government and the tribes," Nez said. "We're right in the middle of the most powerful country in the world, and it is time for Native Americans to be equal with the rest of the USA. We are the first citizens, and we don't want to be pushed aside anymore."
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200609/covid-19-ravages-the-navajo-nation#1

4. NAVAJO RESERVATION - As you know, our area of the reservation is a vast and remote region with few opportunities for people to acquire food and supplies. Often times, their needs require them to travel to more densely populated areas on and off reservation where the virus is most active. Compounding the issue of Covid spread in Navajo country is the common tradition among families for multiple generations to live under one roof or in family compounds where social distancing is difficult at best. In our region, like most other parts of the country, protective items such as masks, gloves and sanitizers are in high demand and nearly non-existent on store shelves. This makes it very hard for people to keep healthy, especially on the reservation where there is a lack of running water.
In response to these needs we have held community drive thru “giveaways” of masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, soap and food. The giveaways have been very well attended and The People are extremely appreciative of the help they are receiving. We plan to continue these events providing aid to those in need. These efforts are supported through many friends and clients, as well as our non-profit 501c3, Blessingway. Its mission is to support Navajo life ways and traditions including education and the arts. In these difficult times providing aid to help prevent the spread of Covid19 is a particular focus. Our next community event will be July 8th, 2020.

5. NAVAJO RESERVATION - The Navajo Nation
Office of the President and Vice President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 6, 2020
9 new cases, 7,148 recoveries, and one more death related to COVID-19 reported as 32-hour partial weekend lockdown continues
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – On Sunday, the Navajo Department of Health, in coordination with the Navajo Epidemiology Center and the Navajo Area Indian Health Service, reported nine new COVID-19 positive cases for the Navajo Nation and one more death. The total number of deaths is now 523 as of Sunday. Reports indicate that 7,148 individuals have recovered from COVID-19 and 97,110 COVID-19 tests have been administered. The total number of positive COVID-19 cases is now 9,900.
Navajo Nation COVID-19 positive cases by Service Unit:

Chinle Service Unit: 2,340
Crownpoint Service Unit: 814
Ft. Defiance Service Unit: 938
Gallup Service Unit: 1,579
Kayenta Service Unit: 1,313
Shiprock Service Unit: 1,503
Tuba City Service Unit: 941
Winslow Service Unit: 466
* Six residences with COVID-19 positive cases are not specific enough to place them accurately in a Service Unit.
The Navajo Nation’s 32-hour partial weekend lockdown is currently in effect until Monday, Sept. 7 at 5:00 a.m. (MDT) to help control and prevent the spread of COVID-19 on the Navajo Nation.
“We are optimistic that the Navajo Nation will not see another spike in new COVID-19 cases after this holiday weekend. We have done a lot of public outreach to educate our people about the importance of wearing masks, staying home, washing hands, social distancing, and avoiding large crowds. Hopefully, we don’t have too many people traveling this weekend and putting themselves at risk. Please make smart decisions for you and your family members and please think of others. Stay home, stay safe, and save lives,” said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez.
On Sunday, the state of Utah reported 388 new cases of COVID-19, the state of Arizona reported 250 new cases, and New Mexico reported 66.
“This holiday weekend is a great opportunity to prepare your households for the upcoming winter season. We also know that the flu season is near, so please continue to eat healthy foods and to take care of yourselves in order to make your immune systems stronger. The flu season combined with the COVID-19 pandemic may create new challenges for us, but we believe that if our people continue to comply with the health protocols put forth by the health experts, we should be able to overcome the flu season with minimal issues,” said Vice President Myron Lizer.
For more information, including helpful prevention tips, and resources to help stop the spread of COVID-19, visit the Navajo Department of Health’s COVID-19 website: http://www.ndoh.navajo-nsn.gov/COVID-19. For COVID-19 related questions and information, call ‪‪‪(928) ‪871-7014‪.

6. COVID-19 Across the Navajo Nation
By Navajo Times | Mar 22, 2020 | CORONAVIRUS UPDATES |
Coronavirus cases on the Navajo Nation grew by seven on Sept. 18. The case total now is 10,090.
Four new deaths were reported. At least 544 people have died on the Navajo Nation from the coronavirus.
Recoveries are 7,229.
On the Hopi service area, which also serves parts of the nearby Navajo Nation, cases remained at 441. There are at least 4 deaths at Hopi.
The Navajo Nation has emergency weekend curfews in effect for September, as the flu season approaches and the possibility of a surge from the Labor Day holiday looms. The weekend lockdowns begin on Saturdays at 9 p.m. and last until Mondays at 5 a.m. for the four weekends this month. The daily curfew is from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m.
Health experts say the situation on the Navajo Nation carries medium to high risk, particularly in Coconino County, Ariz., Apache County, Ariz., and in San Juan County, Utah. One out of 17 Navajos on the reservation has or had COVID-19. Continued safety measures are recommended.
Navajo Nation officials have been reconciling discrepancies for July and August data. At the end of August, in a press release, the president’s office added 165 cases that occurred between April 6 and Aug. 12. Then, on Sept. 8, they added 2 more cases for July. Health officials also added 16 more deaths to the overall tally at the beginning of September. According to a news release, the deaths ocurred between May and August. Officials blamed several states for delayed results. On Sept. 16, officials added 49 previously unreported cases in New Mexico.
The following charts and maps show the extent and location of the coronavirus on and near the Navajo Nation. Hover over, tap or click the map markers and graph for expanded information.
(Last updated Sept. 19, 2020.)