COVID-19 and Indigenous Peoples: Tools to Promote Equity and Best Practices

Year

This is the second volume of a two-volume special issue of the American Indian Culture and Research Journal, volume 44.3, dedicated to the indirect impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous Peoples. The first volume (44.2) covers the degree to which Indigenous Peoples were affected by COVID-19 and how this has resulted in a number of responses at the community and local levels. In particular, three articles conducted different surveys in order to assess the levels of stress, coping, and resil-ience among Indigenous Peoples in the United States and relative to non-Indigenous peoples. The observed higher levels of stress are consistent with expectations given existing disparities in health access and care for these US populations. The first volume also provides some insight into the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand and Canada. While these Indigenous Peoples have not, at least up to this point, experienced as many cases or deaths due to COVID-19 as Indigenous Peoples in the United States, the papers from those countries highlight the ongoing need for prevention and awareness for especially vulnerable populations, as well as inclusion in national planning efforts.

The articles in this issue provide specific research and insights for improving the reporting, identifying, and prevention of COVID-19 cases and deaths. The first two articles focus on the concept of identification in national, regional and local health data. For small populations, and, in particular, Indigenous Peoples, it is imperative that data collection provide detailed information on race and tribal nation identifiers. These measures, difficult to implement, are vital for identifying the spread and transmission of contagious diseases in small communities. In the absence of this information, these populations quickly may be inundated by cases without much warning.

Resource Type
Citation

Carroll, Stephanie; Randall Akee, Chandra Ford, eds. Tools to Promote Equity and Best Practices. (2020). American Indian Culture and Research Journal. Vol. 44, No. 3. American Indian Studies Center, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.

Related Resources

Image
COVID-19 and Indigenous Peoples Impact of and Response to the Pandemic

In a two-volume, special edition of the American Indian Culture and Research Journal—volume 44, issues 2 and 3—we examine COVID-19’s unique implications for Indigenous Peoples, nations, and communities. We organized these special issues because the COVID-19 pandemic has particularly adversely…

Image
Case Report Indigenous Sovereignty in a Pandemic Tribal Codes in the United States as Preparedness.png

Indigenous Peoples globally and in the United States have combatted and continue to face disease, genocide, and erasure, often the systemic result of settler colonial policies that seek to eradicate Indigenous communities. Many Native nations in the United States have asserted their inherent…

Thumbnail or cover image
American Indian Reservations and COVID-19 Correlates of Early Infection Rates in the Pandemic

Objective: To determine the household and community characteristics most closely associated with variation in COVID-19 incidence on American Indian reservations in the lower 48 states. Design: Multivariate analysis with population weights. Setting: Two hundred eighty-seven American Indian…