Marci McLean and Cora Neumann are joining me for another episode of my ongoing series called New West Dispatches. In each New West Dispatch, I break from the normal Mountain & Prairie format of discussing a guest’s personal experiences, influences, and life story, and instead we spend the hour diving deep into a specific, timely issue that is creating challenges in the American West. The goal of these episodes is to offer a clear-eyed examination of a pressing issue, then to highlight the people and ideas that are helping to solve these sometimes-overwhelming problems. These episodes are meant to educate and provide actionable information, while also offering hope and optimism in the face of challenges.
In today’s New West Dispatch, we’ll be discussing COVID’s impact on Native communities in Montana and throughout the American West. Marci and Cora are uniquely qualified to discuss this topic, as they have been on the front lines of Montana’s public health response to the devastating effects of COVID across tribal lands. Marci grew up on the Blackfeet Nation and currently serves as Executive Director of Montana Native Vote, an organization with the mission of building leaders in Montana’s Indian County. Cora Nuemann is a PhD-level public health expert and the founder of We Are Montana, an organization that supports public health leadership across rural and Native Montana. In early 2020, when it became clear that COVID was a true threat, Marci and Cora teamed up and took action, offering much-needed education, funding, and support to combat the virus in Native communities.
We had an enlightening and educational conversation, and I am so grateful to Marci and Cora for joining me to share their experiences and wisdom. We start out by discussing both Marci and Cora’s backgrounds, and how they decided to take action as the pandemic descended on Montana. We talk about the specific factors that made this pandemic so devastating to Native communities and why Native Americans suffered the highest death rates of any community in the United States. We discuss the Native response to the pandemic– what worked, what didn’t, and some specific success stories. And we also talk about vaccine rollout and how Marci and Cora see the next year playing out. Finally, they both offer up some excellent book recommendations on Native American history, culture, and current events.
The notes for this episode are even more robust than usual, so be sure to check them out for links to articles, resources, and further information on everything we cover. Thanks again to Marci and Cora for their hard work and focus on this important issue. I hope you enjoy and learn as much as I did!
Photos courtesy of Marci and Cora.
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EPISODE NOTES
Topics Discussed:
- 4:00 – Introductions
- 13: 15 – When did Cora and Marci know when COVID was going to be a big impact on their communities
- 20:45 – What worked in communicating public health in Cora and Marci’s community
- 24:00 – Reflections on how Indigenous communities responded to information coming from the Trump administration regarding COVID
- 27:15 – Why Indigenous communities are so vulnerable in pandemic scenarios like COVID
- 33:45 – Cora and Marci discuss the extensive work they have done in and around Indigenous communities in Montana regarding public health and COVID.
- 40:30 – The vaccine rollout progress in and around Indigenous Montana communities
- 42:00 – How do we get to the new normal
- 43:30 – How can people help in these efforts
- 47:45 – Book recommendations
- 51:15 – Parting words of wisdom
Information Referenced:
- COVID impacts on Indigenous Americans
- COVID impacts on Indigenous people in Montana
- Coverage of Cora and Marci’s work
- The 19th feature: As Montana’s tribal nations are threatened by COVID, women health leaders have stepped up
- Great Falls Tribune: Montana COVID-19 relief: Organizations help tribal communities
- Mansfield Center panel: Montana tribal leaders discuss fighting the pandemic | Local News | missoulian.com
- Intercept feature: Montana Tribes Hard-Hit by Covid-19 Brace for Republican Takeover Miranda Green
- Indian Country Today: Montana responds to local advocacy groups and adds American Indians in Phase 1B vaccine rollout
- Notes From The Field – COVID Local Blog – supporting Tribal leaders (this is work with the former White House pandemic team – who are now back in the White House!)
- New nonprofit aimed at tackling COVID-19 in Native, rural communities
- Social Media
- Vaccine rollout information:
- DPHHS report March 16th: Native Americans make up about 7% of Montana’s population, but represent 18% of reported COVID-19 related deaths in the state. COVID-19 was the 3rd leading cause of death in 2020.
- Blackfeet Nation is currently reporting 95% of eligible enrolled members are vaccinated—7,600 of 9,778
- More than 30% of the Crow Tribe’s eligible population had received at least one vaccine as of March 18.
- In Great Falls as of March 12, more than 75% of Indian Family Health Clinic (IFHC, an IHS-funded urban Indian organization) eligible patients had received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 60% were fully immunized.
- Each week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allocates COVID-19 vaccines to IHS, which then distributes them across their areas. IHS’ Billings-area location, which includes eleven Montana facilities, receives, on average, 1,200 Moderna doses, 1,170 Pfizer doses and 100 Johnson & Johnson doses each week. In the first eight weeks of distribution, every IHS site in Montana had a 100% vaccination rate, meaning no shots were wasted. So far, the IHS facilities across Montana have administered at least one dose to 29% of the eligible population, and 21% of the eligible IHS population is fully immunized.
- Blackfeet (Niitsitapi or Siksikaitsitapi)
- Medicaid expansion
- Two-spirit
- Montana Native Vote
- We Are Montana
- Indigenous Movements Interchange
- Elizabeth Cameron
- Crow Nation (Apsáalooke)
- Ember Singer
- CSKT Tribal Health
- Incident Command Center
- Food Sovereignty
- Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
- Percy Bullchild, Woody Kipp
- Sherman Alexie
- Joy Harjo
- Louise Erdrich
- David Treuer
- Chris La Tray
- One-Sentence Journal
- Becoming Little Shell (upcoming)
- Nick Estes
- Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Ruth Lister
- Jesmyn Ward
- Geoffrey Rose
- Paul Offit
Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these too:
- NEW WEST DISPATCH: Matt Skoglund – Ranching in the Age of COVID
- Juanita Vero, Part 2 – A Deep Desire to Serve
- Becky Edwards – Amplifying the Power of Women in the West
- Chris La Tray – Rediscovering His Past, Writing His Future
- Ivan McClellan – A New Look at the Old West
- Gabe Vasquez – Advocate for Equity in the Outdoors
- Len Necefer – Indigenous Advocate
- Carlos Fernandez – The Power of Partnerships
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