The IHS is an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services that provides federal health services to Native communities. However, the agency is chronically underfunded and thus frequently cannot provide its communities the health care they need.
On March 27, US President Donald Trump signed an unprecedented $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill which will send checks to many US families and also give US banks tools to increase their lending capacities during the coronavirus pandemic.
This, combined with the Federal Reserve’s pledge to buy up huge numbers of stocks and bonds, totals some $6 trillion in government spending on the crisis.
‘It’s Better Than Nothing’
However, according to Hopkins, Native communities will only receive $8 billion in tribal relief funds.
“Initially, the Trump administration was going to give us zilch, but thanks to some of the congressmen and senators that stepped forward … we were able to get $8 billion in the funding toward tribal relief, and $1 billion is set aside for the IHS that serves reservation communities across the nation,” Hopkins told hosts Bob Schlehuber and Jamarl Thomas. “That is actually less than what the National Congress of American Indians had suggested, but it’s better than nothing.”
On Thursday, the Navajo Nation Department of Health and Navajo Area Indian Health Service reported at least 241 coronavirus cases in Diné communities spanning the tribe’s territory in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, with 1,796 people being tested. One week ago, there were only 49 cases of the virus in Navajo territory.
"There are not enough beds, all over the Navajo Nation and all over the country, as you know," Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez recently NBC News. "Here, on the Navajo Nation, we don't have the best health care."
"We shouldn't be the last to get equipment. We are the first citizens of this country, our nation. And we just got to remind our federal partners out there that we are still here, and we're resilient, and we'll overcome this,” he added.
Nez also noted Friday that the nation’s shelter-in-place order would be enforced more strictly by instating a curfew and subsequent citations for noncompliance.
In addition, the spike in cases of COVID-19 has been accompanied by prejudicial accusations against Navajo citizens, according to Navajo Times writer Arlyssa Becenti, who noted earlier this week an uptick in reports of bigotry against Diné patrons in towns bordering the Navajo Nation.
“We are telling our elders to stay home,” Nez said on April 1. “Don’t go off the Nation. Those that are in border towns are saying we don’t want Navajos to spread Coronavirus into these border towns.”
Chronic Underfunding of Reservation Health
The coronavirus outbreak in Native communities continues to grow, as tribal health facilities function on a scarce budget.
“I believe they have eight deaths now [in Navajo Nation] unfortunately and … they have a serious problem going on down there. And it’s really scary, and it’s sad to see, and it seems to be growing quite a bit every day. But the government itself, they were one of the first ones to set up a task force and really take it seriously - so I think they’re really trying to do everything in their power to get it under control, and unfortunately, we are just going to see how it plays out," Hopkins told Sputnik.
“But they deal with a lot of other things that other Native nations deal with, like a higher rate of diabetes. Native people overall are twice as likely to have diabetes compared to the general population. Also, things like not having enough resources and enough medical care,” Hopkins explained.
“Reservations in general tend to be impoverished, so you’re already talking about people who don’t have a lot of money, and they’re not able to build up a surplus and stockpile. Even the people who are working are often living check to check,” Hopkins added, also noting the scarcity of local grocery stores, making it even more difficult to find necessary supplies.
“For reservations, we go through the IHS that was established through treaties and through trust obligations … they’ve always been underfunded to this very day ... and so that’s part of the reason why that stimulus was so desperately needed. This COVID-19 on top of it adds an extra layer of concern. I think we’re doing the best we can, but it is a dangerous situation,” Hopkins added.
Wampanoag Tribe Loses Reservation Amid Crisis
While Native communities continue to struggle with increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases, the Trump administration on March 27 revoked the reservation status of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts, taking 321 acres of tribal land and stripping the tribe of the ability to govern it.
“Our land is sacred. It’s where our people receive health services. It’s where our children attend our language immersion school ... Taking our land is a direct attack on our culture and our way of living,” Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in a March 30 statement following the decision.
The move by the Interior Department is based on an appeals court decision in February that claimed that the Mashpee Wampanoag’s land is not considered Native territory under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act - a law ostensibly intended to reverse the trend of tribes losing their sovereign territory.