The mission of this electronic magazine is to focus on how the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has perpetuated inequality among Indigenous populations. Specifically, this E-Zine focuses on the impact of the pandemic on the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation occupies nearly 27,500 square miles of land that spans Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, there were nearly 332,000 individuals who claim to have Navajo ancestry.
The Navajo Nation is the largest occupied Native American Reservation in the U.S. Studies have shown that Native Americans and Native Alaskans born today have a life expectancy that is 5.5 years less than the U.S. all races population. Native Americans and Alaskan Natives continue to die at higher rates than other Americans in many categories, including chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus, unintentional injuries, assault/homicide, intentional self-harm or suicide, and chronic lower respiratory diseases. With bodies that are more prone to disease because of generational trauma and oppression (see Book Review: An Analysis of Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West), these bodies are more prone to developing severe disease from SARS-CoV-2 virus.
This E-Zine discusses the history of generational trauma and its physiological impacts to this day among the Navajo people. I connect the disproportionate burden that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on the Navajo population to generational trauma and toxic stress. This E-Zine acts as a platform to amplify Indigenous voices. My personal voice is only pronounced to give objective information that allows readers to understand context-specific information.
References
Indian Health Service. “Disparities: Fact Sheets.” Indian Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Oct. 2019, www.ihs.gov/newsroom/factsheets/disparities/.
Navajo Division of Health, and Navajo Epidemiology Center. “Navajo Population Profile: 2010 U.S. Census.” Navajo Epidemiology Center, Dec. 2013, archive.org/details/perma_cc_PYS5-VR8M.