Impact on Indigenous Communities within the U.S.
There are various factors that contributed to these disparities relating to Indigenous Communities in the wake of the Pandemic. First off, Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center notes that there are considerable gaps in information on Covid-19 for Native communities in public databases (Weeks, 2021). Therefore, all available research must be taken with a grain of salt and viewed critically. There are many factors that contribute to the Covid-19 impact on Native Americans; from dependence on public/shared transportation to limited access to water in Indigenous communities (Hatcher et. al., 2020). Lack of infrastructure is a barrier that plagues this community. Specifically, limited technological infrastructure, such as internet services, led to restricted contact tracing (Solomon et. al., 2022). It can be inferred that lack of internet services not only leads to limited contact tracing, but also likely impacts communication between tribe members, which can make it difficult to gain social support.
Moreover, the racial inequity ingrained in American history has contributed to these Covid-19 disparities (Hatcher et. al., 2020). You cannot simply separate the past from the present; history has present implications, especially in Native populations. In fact, it was US policies in the first place, such as removing Natives from their homeland, that led to the current inequities in the first place (Solomon, et. al., 2022). These current inequities manifest themselves into dangerous results during the Pandemic, such as hospitalization and death of Native peoples.
References
Hatcher, S. M., Agnew-Brune, C., Anderson, M., Zambrano, L. D., Rose, C. E., Jim, M. A., Baugher, A., Liu, G. S., Patel, S. V., Evans, M. E., Pindyck, T., Dubray, C. L., Rainey, J. J., Chen, J., Sadowski, C., Winglee, K., Penman-Aguilar, A., Dixit, A., Claw, E., … McCollum, J. (2020). Covid-19 among American Indian and Alaska native persons — 23 states, January 31–July 3, 2020. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(33). https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6933e4
Solomon, T. G., Starks, R. R., Attakai, A., Molina, F., Cordova-Marks, F., Kahn-John, M., Antone, C. L., Flores, M., & Garcia, F. (2022). The generational impact of racism on Health: Voices from American Indian Communities. Health Affairs, 41(2), 281–288. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01419
Weeks, R. (2021, October 11). New data shows covid-19's disproportionate impact on American Indian, Alaska native tribes. The Hub. Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https://hub.jhu.edu/2021/10/11/map-covid-19-impact-american-indian-population/