CDC – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons appear to be disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; however, limited data are available to quantify the disparity in COVID-19 incidence, severity, and outcomes among AI/AN persons compared with those among other racial/ethnic groups.

Early Release
August 19, 2020

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Mother Jones – Politics

“It’s going to require a generation of good policy to make up for generations of bad policy.”

A member of the Oglala Lakota tribe from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Dr. Donald Warne had an early interest in medical work—he comes from a long line of traditional healers.

Delilah Friedler
August 17, 2020

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Photo: Mother Jones illustration
Credit: Courtesy of the University of North Dakota.

E&C – Press Release

Washington, D.C. – Energy and Commerce Committee members Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-MT), Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ), and Rep. Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D-CA) released the following statement on H.R. 7948, the Tribal Health Data Improvement Act of 2020, a bill that would reaffirm that Tribal public health authorities are entitled to access public health data.

August 7, 2020

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Bill Text

Foreign Policy – Report

Health inequalities and government indifference are hitting communities hard.

It was in 1832 that the U.S. government first began delivering health care to Indigenous communities. Congress allocated $12,000 to vaccinate those living in nations near white frontier settlements against smallpox.

Justin Ling
August 6, 2020

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Photo: Miss Navajo Nation Shaandiin P. Parrish grabs a box filled with food and other supplies to distribute to Navajo families in Counselor on the Navajo Nation Reservation, New Mexico, on May 27.
Credit: Sharon Chischilly / Getty Images