Sarah Stacke: Tribal Territories Have the Right to Protect Their People Against the Pandemic
Sarah Stacke
Seeking out the stories flying under the national radar, The Nation and Magnum Foundation are partnering on What’s At Stake, a series of photo essays from across the country through the lenses of independent image-makers.
This week, Sarah Stacke examines how The Cheyenne River Reservation is taking matters into its own hands to protect residents from Covid-19, even as South Dakota has resisted shutting down.
Read more in The Nation.
“What struck me about Cheyenne River’s response to the pandemic was that leaders recognized early on that they were responsible for the lives of the people, and they would do everything in their power to prevent unnecessary death. The Lakota people have dealt with novel viruses before. Upon the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, Native Americans suffered unimaginable levels of death from flu, smallpox, and measles. Since then, many Native American tribes have gone to extraordinary lengths to protect their people from disease. The message I received when talking to people here was clear: The tribe must protect itself at all costs, because no one else will.”