Photo: Celia Panduro (Shipibo) of Masisea, Pucallpa, Peru, holds a sign that says "Stay at home" in her native language. Photo by Cecilio Soria, social communicator with the Shipibo Konibo Xetebo Indigenous governance council, whose radio station was supported by a grant from Cultural Survival in 2018.

By Danielle DeLuca
 

By Minnie Degawan
 
Now, four months into the worldwide crisis brought about by COVID 19, the situation of Indigenous Peoples is slowly coming to light with the dissemination of reports from different Indigenous organizations. Indigenous Peoples are facing particularly challenging times due to some basic facts including the susceptibility of Indigenous communities to infectious diseases due to their lower immunity and, their lack of, or limited access to information, among others. 

Por Bia’ni Madsa' Juárez López, Gerente del Fondo Guardianes de la Tierra
 

El mundo se encuentra en un momento de crisis ante la pandemia COVID-19 que hasta este momento (3 de abril de 2020, 12:59 pm CT) contabiliza 1,066,706 personas contagiadas en 181 países, con un impacto de 56,767 personas fallecidas. Esta crisis ha tenido grandes implicaciones que no son exclusivamente médicas. Aumento en el desempleo, baja en la producción, escasez y encarecimiento de productos básicos son algunos de los mayores ejemplos. 
 

En Español

By Bia’ni Madsa' Juárez López, Keepers of the Earth Fund Manager
 

En 1948, la Asamblea Mundial de la Salud declaró que cada 7 de abril se conmemore el Día Mundial de la Salud por la necesidad de garantizar el acceso a servicios públicos de salud para toda la población sin importar las condiciones económicas de las personas. El derecho a la salud es un derecho básico de todos los humanos, y también, de los Pueblos Indígenas.

Por Demetrio Cojtí Cuxil

El objeto del presente artículo es esbozar el efecto del Coronavirus 19 en los Pueblos Indígenas.  Utiliza como país referente a los Indígenas de Guatemala, pero sus consideraciones pueden ser válidas para el resto de los Pueblos Aborígenes del mundo pues casi todos tienen e implementan, grosso modo, la misma cosmovisión con respecto a los ancianos. 
 

Demografía de los ancianos Indígenas y su relación con el Coronavirus 19

As the COVID-19 virus spreads to countries with low-resources, high levels of poverty and malnutrition, high levels of inequality, and discrimination against Indigenous Peoples, we know that this crisis will have a much deeper and more widespread impact.

Inequalities already exist in the information provided. Much of the information is available online, only for those with Internet access, the ability to read and write, and speak a majority language. 

1. Indigenous Peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and to maintain their health practices, including the conservation of their vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals. Indigenous individuals also have the right to access, without any discrimination, to all social and health services.

2. Indigenous individuals have an equal right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. States shall take the necessary steps with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of this right."

On March 27, 2020, in the midst of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Chairman Cedric Cromwell was informed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs that the Tribe’s reservation will be “disestablished” as ordered by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, David Bernhardt.
 

On March 18, 2020, Funding Indigenous Women in Media  webinar was co-hosted by Cultural Survival and International Funders for Indigenous Peoples. If you missed it, you can still be part of our rich discussion of how access to information technology can empower Indigenous women to combat harmful stereotypes, challenge abuse and violence, and express their own narratives of who they are as Indigenous Peoples.

Presenters: 

Dear Cultural Survival community,

At this difficult moment for all of us, we wish each and every one of you health and strength. We ask you to join us in sitting in gratitude for a moment, to recognize what we each might have that others may not. Whether that is a roof over our heads, sufficient food and water, the company of family, the safety of solitude, or –for all reading this message–access to technology that brings us together in this moment.  

On February 26-29, 2020, the 8th Continental Conference of Indigenous Women of the Americas took place. The Conference was hosted by the Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas (ECMIA), a network of organizations from 23 countries that has been fighting for more than two decades for the individual and collective rights of Indigenous women and children.