The Overlooked: How COVID-19 is Affecting Indigenous Communities in North and South America.

By: Mikayla Cavanaugh

Indigenous communities around the globe face difficulties in their lives and the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception.  One reservation in particular is in Tsimane, Bolivia.   

Indigenous communities suffer from an increase in COVID cases. Coronavirus cases in some states were prominently seen within these communities. Compared to the US, which has an infection rate of 400 people for every 100,000 people, indigenous reservations have an infection rate between 0 to 3,300 people for every 100,000 people. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for issues within indigenous communities to be overlooked. As a result, the number of COVID-19 cases in the indigenous populations is left out of state statistics. People of native indigenous descent are predisposed to catching coronavirus because they lack exposure and tolerance to these types of diseases. Speaking more specifically, people in Tsimane face many issues treating the virus and obtaining the proper supplies needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

Issues posed by the pandemic superseded, the physical threats to communities and has started to affect them financially. Native communities face a greater risk of containing viruses since they lack proper access to resources like close hospital care, adequate protective wear, and access to clean drinking water. Oftentimes, medical services are underfunded and are too far outside these communities to commute to. Most reservations aren’t covered under government insurance and struggle to pay for medical care out of pocket. Another issue is educating indigenous groups due to language barriers and the danger that may come with outsider assistance. Reservations have faced unemployment and loss of income based on the closing of businesses, like tourist attractions and casinos, that rely on tourist revenue. Without this income, indigenous communities face financial threats, which causes them to lose the ability to provide basic care for residents.  

The Tsimane Health and Life History Project (THLHP), an organization, has been working closely with indigenous communities located in the Amazon of Tsimane Bolivia. Tsimane contains over 100 settlements and has a population of over 16,000 people. THLHP strives to prevent the progression of COVID-19 through a two-phase system that will inform residents of information regarding COVID-19 and assisting them with mitigating safe social procedures to decrease contamination within these population(s). As mentioned earlier, a major struggle for the THLHP is communicating information about COVID to non-English speaking areas. Yet, the THLHP has been successful in assisting and supporting Native communities with regulating people and goods that cross into their borders, by introducing a two week incubation period. The assistance of THLHP has allowed villages in Tsimane to improve tracking and managing the virus. With assistance from the THLHP, it is expected that cases will drop around their community. 

Works Cited

Akee, Randall. “How COVID-19 Is Impacting Indigenous Peoples in the U.S.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 13 May 2020, www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/how-covid-19-is-impacting-indigenous-peoples-in-the-u-s.

Hoover, Elizabeth. “Native food systems impacted by COVID.” Agriculture and Human Values (2020): 1. 

Kaplan, Hillard S., et al. “Voluntary collective isolation as a best response to COVID-19 for indigenous populations? A case study and protocol from the Bolivian Amazon.” The Lancet (2020).

Mineo, Liz. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Native American Communities.” Harvard Gazette, Harvard Gazette, 11 May 2020, news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/05/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-native-american-communities/.

Schultz, Heidi A. “Native American Communities And COVID-19: How Foundations Can Help.” Native American Communities And COVID-19: How Foundations Can Help | Health Affairs, 31 Mar. 2020, www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200331.659944/full/.