COVID-19 impact on Navajo Nation a US wake-up call

There are various theories to explain why the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted such a terrible toll on the Navajo Nation. They range from large gatherings that led to an explosion of the virus, to extreme poverty, to lack of running water, to immune system problems caused by exposure to uranium from now-abandoned mines.

In truth all of them, and others, may play a role. There undoubtably will be no shortage of research papers.

But here are some unassailable facts: Native Americans across New Mexico are dying of the novel coronavirus at 19 times the rate of all other populations combined. They account for 57% of New Mexico’s COVID-19 deaths despite being only 11% of the population and have an infection rate 14 times higher than the rest of the population.

Dr. Michael Landen, state epidemiologist, says Native Americans also have higher rates of complications and account for 72% of the state’s hospitalizations.

The Navajo Nation is a sovereign nation governed by an elected president and tribal council. And it presents unique health challenges. Covering more than 27,000 square miles in northeast Arizona, southeastern Utah and northwest New Mexico, it is larger than 10 U.S. states but sparsely populated with about 180,000 people, many of whom live in remote locations, making water tie-ins virtually impossible in many cases. Wells often are not an option because of the water table.

Unemployment is estimated at more than 40%, with 43% living below the poverty line. The population suffers from a range of health problems, including diabetes rates four times higher than the age-standardized U.S. estimate.

“There have been some gatherings that led to high transmissions,” Landen says. “Then you have persons who have higher rates of complications who have been infected, persons with diabetes, hypertension, chronic alcohol use, those sorts of conditions.”

It is another sad chapter in a tragic history. Navajos are thought to have arrived in the Southwest between 800 and 1,000 years ago after crossing the Bering Strait. They fought with pueblos and the Spanish but encountered a more formidable enemy after the U.S. defeated Mexico in 1846. Colonel Kit Carson basically starved the Navajos into submission and rounded up every one he could find, and in the spring of 1864 forced them into the long march to Fort Sumner, N.M. It is an ugly blot on this nation’s history.

A treaty signed in 1868 returned the Navajos to the Four Corners. One of the government’s promises was to provide health care to the tribe.

It has been a promise poorly kept. Even though Native Americans died at four times the rate of all other ethnic and racial groups combined during the 2009 swine flu outbreak, the current budget for the Indian Health Service is $6.04 billion compared with an estimate by a coalition of tribal leaders that full funding would require $48 billion. That lack of funding ties directly to the poor underlying health conditions that have contributed to the pandemic on tribal land.

It was delayed, but the Navajo Nation received $600 million in much-needed money from the federal CARES Act. President Jonathan Nez has said, wisely, that he would like to see the money go toward infrastructure projects such as water lines and homes as well as investing in Navajo businesses so the Diné don’t have to travel to border towns to buy supplies and necessities.

The Navajo Nation also has received more than $2 million in donations from individuals and outside organizations like the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“We have friends of the Navajo people, and God bless their hearts,” Nez told the Navajo Times, referring also to supporters in Congress. “They are putting money, putting their resources and helping this Nation with food, supplies and prayers.”

Nez is being incredibly gracious. And he knows the Navajo Nation needs more than charity, emergency money and goodwill. As we move past this pandemic, our leaders — can somebody please step up? — need to convene a real summit that includes the three states, the federal government and the Navajo Nation to address the underlying systemic problems that have led to the disparate toll COVID-19 has inflicted on the Navajo people.

Navajos have continued to suffer through the direct actions of others since the “The Long Walk.” At this point, more benign neglect is unconscionable.