Protecting elders from COVID-19 a top priority

I recall when we were establishing the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College — which later became the First Nations University of Canada — that we presented a budget and work plan. Among the items was a position for an elder.

The department heads and the board of governors were confused as to what an elder was, since no department had ever employed one. We were introducing a new concept into the world of academia; in the future, it would be a matter of course.

Introducing elders to the university was an important step in the Indigenization of our institution. First Nations have always relied on elders as the teachers and knowledge keepers.

We have elders who fulfil specific roles.

The Senate of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations is made up of individuals who worked for years as leaders on the local, provincial and national stage. Collectively, they provide the present day leadership with valuable experience and perspective. Spiritual elders will direct ceremonies and special events like funerals, making sure that proper protocols are adhered to.

Each community has elders who advise and educate the people. Some individuals, usually a woman elder, carry the family history and know the community relationships and family history. If a couple wishes to marry, they will consult with the elder to see if they are related.

Once, I had a young woman working in my office who told me that her grandmother told her that we were related. It seems that my great-grandfather took a wife from her family sometime in the late 1800s. I asked my dad and he replied that he heard that his grandfather had a wife from somewhere up north.

So, when we heard that the COVID -19 virus would attack the elderly and those with underlying health issues, it became a priority to protect them.

The urgency to protect our elders and those with health issues has become a universal theme in all our communities. Blockades have been set up following band council direction. These barriers are keeping people from making needless trips and reducing the number that come and go from the reserve. Outsiders are banned from entry and the result has been that Indigenous communities have had little exposure to the virus.

The exception has been communities like La Loche, where the workers were employed in construction camps elsewhere. These should have been shut down by the Alberta government, but instead they were declared an essential service and the virus spread as a result.

The memory of epidemics is etched in the collective memory of our people across the Americas, and this pandemic has reminded us that we have to protect ourselves from the ravages of an unknown disease.

To the south in the United States, our friends and relations in the Cheyenne River and Oglala Sioux Tribes have established checkpoints on roads leading to their reservations and denied entrance to outsiders. This is common practice and sensible, but South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has made it into a hill that she is prepared to die on. A couple of weeks ago, she gave the tribes 48 hours to take down the checkpoints. The tribes refused, so she issued a court order, which the tribes tore up. Their position is that Native American tribes occupy sovereign territory and the state governments have no jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the governor has appealed to

U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene. The tribes and their leadership remain determined to protect their people. Harold Frazier, the chairman of the Cheyenne River reservation, issued a statement that said it all: “We will not apologize for being an island of safety in a sea of uncertainty and death.”

This reaction is seen across the Americas. Throughout Latin America, the Indigenous tribes are barricading their villages against outsiders to protect the elders. Their comments to the media reflect the concern that is shared across Indian country.

Our elders hold the collective memory of our people. They hold the knowledge of our history, our traditions, and our ceremonies. They have the knowledge of the natural world, including medicines and the use of traditional plants and herbs.

This is a dangerous time for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, and we must work together to get through this pandemic.