Nowhere Is Remote Anymore

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/opinion/coronavirus-navajo-nation.html

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ALBUQUERQUE — Last month, when the first two confirmed cases of the coronavirus were announced in the Navajo Nation, I packed a bag and returned to the safest place I knew: home. I joined my parents to visit Yellow Rock Point on the Utah side of the reservation.

I grew up hearing stories about a place where lambs nibbled at my mother’s ears while she sat in the middle of her family’s sheep corral, a place where she ate her first rabbit hunted by her grandfather as they sat under the stars in their male hogan — a traditional octagonal Navajo home, made of wood and covered in mud.

As we inched closer to the San Juan River, my mother saw Yellow Rock Point, a rock shaped like a melting ice cream cone that maintained its pointed tip. We drove to the very edge of a cliff and hiked to the bottom, where the family homestead still stood.

Mom rushed to the hogan, where the brick foundation remained in the shape of a stop sign. She stood where she once slept and showed us where her great-grandfather made his bed and plucked his chin hair.

Every part of the land had a story, a memory that my mother shared. “Back then you didn’t have to worry,” she said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic. “There was nothing out here and no one. We were far away from all of it.”

The coronavirus virus outbreak in the Navajo Nation is showing that nowhere is as remote as it might have once seemed. And the reservation is not prepared. My nation is held together by a culture of togetherness — but that tradition of gathering also makes the spread of the virus worse.

On March 20, the Navajo Nation issued a stay-at-home order after 14 cases of the coronavirus were confirmed. An 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew has been set. There are 1,197 confirmed cases as of April 18 and 44 deaths. Most are being treated in border town hospitals.

The sweeping effects of the coronavirus on the Navajo Nation expose underlying vulnerabilities that already face my people. The lack of running water, electricity, grocery stores, infrastructure and low numbers of emergency and medical personnel are ongoing issues. According to research conducted by students and faculty at the University of Arizona, 35 percent of the 357,000 residents of the nation do not have running water in their homes.

According to the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, which provides electricity, water, gas and communication services to the Navajo Nation, about 15,000 residents do not have electricity.

In 2018, there were a total of 18 grocery stores in the Navajo Nation, which extends across three states — New Mexico, Utah and Arizona — and is the size of West Virginia. Families often travel hours one way to shop for groceries and other essentials.

Though the Navajo Nation is a dry reservation, an increasing number of deaths are alcohol related. Most families on the reservation, including mine, have lost a loved one to alcohol or substance abuse. I lost my closest uncle to alcohol-related violence when I was just 11 years old.

In the event of a health emergency, the Navajo people have to drive hours to the nearest health facility. Our roads do not have signs or addresses. Emergency services have a hard time reaching us. In addition to limited resources, Navajo people are some of the most vulnerable in the country to the coronavirus, with high rates of heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

In Albuquerque, people who are not Navajo ask me why the virus has spread so rapidly through the nation. My answer is always the same: Because we take care of one another. Any given home on the reservation is not just made up of a mother, father and one or two children. A home belongs to grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and extended family members. We leave our doors open because that is the Navajo way of life. But now, that custom comes with a cost.

As the pandemic unmasks underlying social issues, my people and leaders are left to address them. In order to make sure that every home on the reservation is prepared for the next pandemic, we need to ensure that everyone is doing their part to provide the basic needs for all Navajo people: a roof over their heads, access to clean running water and expanded infrastructure so that the people don’t have to rely on businesses off the reservation.

Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi (@clahchischiligi) is a writing instructor and doctoral student at the University of New Mexico.

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