‘My Anxiety Is Out Of Control’: Officers In Navajo Nation Have Added Worry About Exposure To COVID
The high rate of infection makes Navajo Nation officer Carolyn Tallsalt, who grew up on the reservation, panic for her family members and friends but also for herself, writes the Los Angeles Times. Other news on Native Americans is on the new hardships of potters and artists who can't sell at markets, the end of weekend lockdowns in some areas and the decision of tribes in Montana to keep reservations closed.
Los Angeles Times:
She’s Patrolled Navajo Nation For Nearly 20 Years. Nothing Prepared Her For Coronavirus
The Navajo Nation patrol car pulled up to the jail near the center of town and Officer Carolyn Tallsalt stepped out. She adjusted her surgical mask, pressing the edges so they sealed against her cheeks, then flung open the door to the back seat where there was a woman in handcuffs. A jail guard proceeded to pepper the woman, arrested for disturbing the peace, with questions. Have you been in contact with anyone known to have coronavirus? Have you contracted the virus yourself? Do you have a fever or body aches? “No, no, no,” the mask-less woman mumbled, before coughing twice into the open air. Tallsalt stepped back. (Lee, 6/3)
The New York Times:
On Tribal Lands, A Time To Make Art For Solace And Survival
For over 30 years, Marvin and Frances Martinez have risen with the sun to drive from their home at the San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico to the centuries-old Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe. They arrive early to snag a prime spot beneath the rough-hewed wooden beams of the portal, a colonnade where they sell pottery blackened by blue smoke that recalls the legacy of Maria Martinez, the grande dame of Native American pottery and Mr. Martinez’s great-grandmother. They are among the 70 or so Native American artisans gathering here to earn a living, artfully arranging their silver and turquoise jewelry, polychrome pots, ubiquitous feathered dreamcatchers and other items on Pendleton blankets. (Brown, 6/5)
The Associated Press:
Navajo Nation Keeps Closings, Curfews; Weekend Lockdowns End
The Navajo Nation is extending its closure of tribal government facilities and continuing its overnight curfews while ending weekend lockdowns imposed because of the coronavirus outbreak. Tribal health officials reported 128 additional cases of COVID-19 and seven additional deaths, increasing the total number of cases to 5,661 with 259 deaths, as of June 3.Tribal President Jonathan Nez signed an order June 3 extending the closure of Navajo Nation government offices and entities to July 5, officials said in a statement. (6/4)
Kaiser Health News:
Montana’s Tribal Nations Preserve COVID Restrictions To Preserve Their Cultures
As Montana plows forward with its reopening, including throwing open the doors to tourism on June 1, the outlook is starkly different for members of the state’s Native American nations, which have approached the coronavirus with greater caution and stricter controls. For members of the state’s far-flung tribes, who make up nearly 7% of Montana’s population of roughly 1 million, protective attitudes toward elders and cultural heritage have shaped a pandemic response around defending the most vulnerable rather than prioritizing economics. (McLaughlin, 6/5)
