Former Kahnawakero:non Helps Navajo Nation During Pandemic
Written by Paul Graif on 21 April 2020
The Navajo Nation in the US is being ravaged by Covid-19 with over 1000 confirmed cases. According to statistics, they are being hit 9 times harder than other states in the region, notably, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.
Chris Jocks who is originally from Kahnawake, is a teacher at Northern Arizona University and lives in Flagstaff. He says it is extremely difficult to manage the outbreak because of the landscape of the Dene people and the sheer size of the territory which is 27 000 square miles. “To travel the length of Navajo nation it would be similar to going from Kahnawake down to Albany from North to South. Going from east to West it would like going from Albany to Buffalo. The Navajo nation is roughly the same size at the traditional Haudenosaunee territory,” Jocks said. His wife, Robyn Jackson is Dene. She works at a Navajo Environment Organization. She says that following health protocols is not an easy solution for her people. “It’s a very rural area. There really isn’t much infrastructure. About 35 percent of the population do not have electricity. Another 40 percent without running water. So some of the health precautions that have been recommended for people during this pandemic is all the more challenging on the reservation,” Jackson said.
She and Jocks have been shopping for food and other supplies and taking them to her family, friends and community members more than three hours away by car.
