A few days ago, I was talking with my two adult children that live with us. We were talking about how things seem to be escalating with the coronavirus. States have opened, people don’t wear masks, and there is now an increase in positive cases, nearly 45,000 today alone. I was particularly glad that our Governor Lujan-Grisham has delayed the second phase of opening, and there may be closures coming. A friend said today that he noticed there were cars from Arizona and Texas here, two of the states that have had spikes in the number of positive cases. Please go home.
We haven’t been anywhere but the stores for food, post office, a couple of fast-food places since we were tired of our cooking, and we haven’t gone to visit friends and family, only to the stores out of necessity. We’ve changed our lives to meet this coronavirus pandemic, to ensure that we do not get sick, but more so, so that KD does not get sick. We wear our masks when we go out, even if it is a drive-through. We put our masks on when we leave our cars. We have hand sanitizer, we have gloves. And we have this procedure where we clean whatever comes in the house, from food purchases, paper bags, FedEx deliveries, the mail, and we change our clothes immediately, and wipe down doors, and clean car interiors.
This pandemic is not going anywhere soon. To see that it has been politicized by the Great Orange Father in the White House just to save his campaign for a second term is sickening… he has done nothing, said nothing positive, and has in fact, been antagonistic to those doctors and epidemiologists who know their stuff. There were delays in getting PPE here, delays there, funding was cut for WHO, funding delayed for the Indian Nations. That person has not handled this pandemic well, and I say thee nay… he has not handled it at all. That one has politicized this pandemic to the point that people, whether they know they are infected or not, are not wearing masks, are not practicing social distancing and gathering in crowds and bars and beaches, and led by that person, state that wearing a mask is against their rights.
No. No, it’s not. It is not against their rights. What it is against is public health. What it is against is others’ right to stay healthy. What it is against is our right to stay healthy. What it is against is my right to stay healthy, and my family’s right to stay healthy. It infringes on any protections we have to stay healthy. We have an inherent right to protect ourselves from danger, and right now that danger is other people not wearing masks, not practicing social distancing, and not being diligent in hand washing.
American Indians have been through so much in the history of this United States. We had everything we needed in the landscape that we lived in. We adapted to the environment. Sure, there were wars over hunting grounds and such, but we lived within our environment. And then to have those explorers come here, create wars starting with the American Indians that lived in the east in order to take them as slaves, and proceed to mow down every tribe that was here in the ensuing years, and cause them to leave their homelands in order for the Europeans to take the land.
That mindthink exists today, and that is to do harm to American Indians and threaten our cultures, whether it is in the form of mascots, taking our lands, much of which has oil and other natural resources, to attempt to plow through and destroy a tribal cemetery just to put up a wall to increase security for this wonderful country, and also to have members of tribes killed in encounters with police, men and women both, though these are not sensationalized by the press and the news, because apparently, our lives don’t matter. And no one is nearby with a phone filming the encounters. Everyone is so occupied by the BLM. We’ve been dealing with this since 1492. Our world was not free for the taking. Our world supported us and would have continued to support us, had not the Europeans arrived. It was inevitable; we have only to look at the history of other cultures and countries where Europeans appeared.
So that being said, today I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that this coronavirus is not going anywhere any time soon. I know in the beginning there was this uncertainty about how long this would last, and when would it end. The unknown was weighing heavily on people’s minds. We see these recent increases in cases and hospitalizations – not good. For me, however, by accepting this fact, it places a finality on it. It makes it part of my life. It makes it reality. It does not matter how long, whether it goes two months, six months, another year. Recognizing that it is not going anywhere helps me to get on with what I need to do, and that is being stronger mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally in order to forge through the days ahead.
It has affected our classes, too, which went online after spring break. Summer classes are online. Fall is scheduled for in-class schedules, but if there continue to be increases, I’m sticking to online.
It is unlikely that there will be any powwows, war dances, or gourd dances for us for a long time, not just speaking for others, but specifically just my family. We have my husband who is 92, a former city firefighter, who, after 20+ years on the fire department, had damage to his lungs from smoke inhalation. So we are diligent and cautious in what we do, lest we encounter the virus and bring it home. And with these increases, with people from Texas and Arizona feeling free to move about the country, that is a distinct possibility. Perhaps this pandemic will continue over a year. Perhaps there will be a vaccine by the end of this year, or maybe next year. Will you take it? I’m not certain that I will. I think I’ll let others take the high road first and I’ll see how things go.
This year was my Chilocco Class of 1970’s 50th reunion, our Golden Reunion, to have been held in May. I was supposed to be head lady dancer for the reunion powwow this year. I planned on attending anyway, but that was going to be a big honor for me, and I started collecting giveaway items. After postponing the reunion for May, the board considered having it in the fall, but the facility was unavailable. However, with the rise in cases, they likely would have cancelled. Perhaps we will be able to go next year. Perhaps not. There may be powwows, war dances, and gourd dances, but none that we will go to, not with the numbers of positive cases rising.
So, I just felt the need to write about my experience, put my thoughts out there for posterity. There have been changes, and there will be more changes, to the way we live and the way we do things. Being open to those changes helps bring a finality to the question of how long we might be living with coronavirus, likely a long time. To just accept it as such is good, and it is helpful for the psyche. Plan for it. Make it part of your life. Make it part of your family’s history, just as American Indians did when the Europeans arrived and affected their way of life.
Be well. Stay healthy, my family and friends. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Practice social distancing. Repeat. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Practice social distancing.
Voice of Native Women 