Indigenous communities are being disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Today, we first take a look at how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting Native American communities with Jourdan Bennett-Begaye and Patty Talahongva of Indian Country Today. They talk about shortages at medical facilities, the importance of elders in Native cultures, the rise in cases in the Navajo Nation, casino closures and the economic toll, and the moving forward on the Keystone XL Pipeline and Trump’s U.S.–Mexico border wall.
Then in the second segment, Karla Mendes of Mongabay discusses how COVID-19 is affecting Indigenous peoples in Brazil under Bolsonaro’s regime, in both urban areas and the Amazon region.
Jourdan Bennett-Begaye is a Diné journalist currently stationed in the Nacotchtank & Piscataway Lands (Washington, DC). She is the Washington editor of Indian Country Today.
Patty Talahongva is a Hopi journalist and executive producer at Indian Country Today, where she hosts the daily newscast.
Karla Mendes is the Brazil contributing editor at Mongabay based in Minas Gerais. She has reported on Indigenous activism in Brazil for many international media outlets.
Here is a list of organizations Karla recommends for more information on Indigenous communities in Brazil: