COVID-19 is impacting Indigenous communities across the world. As in other contexts, communities already politically and economically marginalized experience some of the most devastating impacts of the virus as it disrupts food systems, overwhelms health facilities, disrupts people’s means of working and earning a living, and of course causes illness and death. Yet Indigenous communities are resilient, and, empowered with ancestral knowledge, organized communities, Indigenous languages, and their own forms of communication and media, they are taking action. As the UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs points out, it is paramount that Indigenous Peoples have access to culturally appropriate resources and information in their own languages. Indigenous communities themselves are best equipped to develop self-determined solutions. 
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated existing inequalities and human rights abuses that affect Indigenous Peoples around the world. At the same time, governments are taking advantage of the attention that is directed to virus response in order to proceed with projects and policies that further violate Indigenous rights. The following are brief examples of key ways the virus is threatening Indigenous human rights.
Many A'uwẽ-Xavante ceremonies – such as wate’a (above), part of the male initiation complex -- revolve around water and ritual activities in water.  Plans for three hydroelectric dams on tributaries to the Rio das Mortes threaten the river basin. Photo by Rosa Gauditano/Studio R.
 

By Laura R. Graham, with collaboration from Edson Krenak Naknanuk
 

On May 10, 2020, the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux  Tribe in South Dakota were told by Governor Kristi Noem they had to remove coronavirus checkpoints within 48 hours. However, given that the Cheyenne River Sioux only have an eight-bed facility for the 12,000 people living on the reservation, the checkpoints are an essential tool for regulating and limiting the spread of COVID-19 on the reservation.

Cultural Survival recibió hoy la noticia del gesto inesperado y hermoso de Barenaked Ladies, quienes anunciaron en Twitter que compartirían las ganancias de su sencillo “Gotta Be Patient” (tengo que ser paciente) con Cultural Survival. “Gotta Be Patient” es una colaboración entre el cantante galardonado con el Grammy, Michael Bublé, Barenaked Ladies y la artista mexicana Warner-Latina, Sofía Reyes.

Subscribe to Covid-19
Cultural Survival

2067 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02140
(617) 441-5400
Cultural Survival, Inc. is a non-profit organization with federal 501(c)(3) status. FEIN 23-7182593.

Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.

Our Mission

Cultural Survival advocates for Indigenous Peoples' rights and supports Indigenous communities’ self-determination, cultures and political resilience, since 1972.

Our Vision

Cultural Survival envisions a future that respects and honors Indigenous Peoples' inherent rights and dynamic cultures, deeply and richly interwoven in lands, languages, spiritual traditions, and artistic expression, rooted in self-determination and self-governance.

Donate

Stay Informed

Sign up today to stay informed about the latest news, Cultural Survival program updates, events and MORE...

© 2023 Cultural Survival. All Rights Reserved. | Donor Privacy Policy | EIN: 23-7182593