Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health YouTube They wrote, published and distributed a children's story book called Our Smallest Warriors, Our Strongest Medicine: Overcoming COVID-19. Helping kids and elders navigate COVID fearsįamilies also had more time to speak their native language and practice certain cultural routines, which he thinks helped people emotionally.Īllison-Burbank, O'Keefe and their colleagues at the Center for American Indian Health also spearheaded an effort to help American Indian and Alaska Native children cope during the pandemic. He says farming also allowed community members to spend more time together safely - which helped buffer some of the stress. "And not just have enough for ourselves, but we had an abundance of to share with our extended family, our neighbors and to contribute to various mutual aid organizations." "My whole family, we were able to farm traditional Pueblo Foods and Navajo crops," says Allison-Burbank. Many people, including his own family, started farming and cooking traditional crops like corn and squash, which they previously ate only during traditional ceremonies. The excess produce helped combat food shortages in their communities. Right: Joshuaa Allison-Burbank and his family hung red chiles to dehydrate. They then gave the crops to native families in need. Left: Josiah Concho and his nephew Kaleb Allison-Burbank helped grow produce in Waterflow, N.M., during the summer of last year. "I'd wake up at night to go to the restroom, and then I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep."Īragon is among the 74% of American Indian and Alaska Natives who said someone in their household has struggled with depression, anxiety, stress and problems with sleeping, in a recent poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. He worked reduced hours last year, and had periods with no work recently. The pandemic has been a financial stressor, too, says Aragon. His main goal throughout the pandemic has been to keep his brother safe from COVID-19, and "it's really been a struggle," he says. He's kind of like a big teenager," says Aragon, 60, who is part Apache and lives with his brother on the Fort Berthold Reservation of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, in North Dakota. "The left side of his body is atrophied and smaller than his right side, and he has trouble getting around. The past year and a half have been stressful on many fronts for Chris Aragon, a caregiver for his older brother who has cerebral palsy.
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