“Mothers are Medicine”: U.S. Indigenous Media Emphasizing Indigenous Women's Roles in COVID-19 Coverage

Abstract

As COVID-19 surged in 2020, non-Indigenous media had a chronic disease of its own: sparse pandemic news from Indian Country. Within this inadequate coverage, there was an erasure of sources: Indigenous women were missing. This study evaluates the role of gender in U.S. Indigenous news coverage during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a qualitative thematic textual analysis, 161 Indigenous media news articles were analyzed to examine gendered news coverage themes from the time the United States instituted a nationwide quarantine until the autumn of 2020. U.S. Indigenous media amplified voices of the Indigenous women on the COVID-19 frontlines. This study focuses on Indigenous media as the benchmark for telling ethical diverse Indigenous community-focused stories, illustrating how women's voices led media coverage and amplified issues. U.S. tribes are often matriarchal. As Europeans wielded disease and genocide as extermination tactics on these communities, women's voices served as medicine to guide narratives to community solutions and healing. As such, this study seeks to add to current theoretical understanding of how Indigenous women's roles were portrayed in COVID-19 coverage.

Keywords

COVID-19 indigenous media pandemic Native American women indigenous voices

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allen

(2020a). With bleach and a prayer: In a tiny town, a clinic run by women holds the front line. Navajo Times. https://navajotimes.com/ae/community/in-a-tiny-town-a-clinic-run-by-women-holds-the-front-line/

Allen

(2020b). Virus strikes at rally: Chilchinbeto church gathering may be source of outbreak. Navajo Times. https://navajotimes.com/coronavirus-updates/two-deaths-in-western-may-have-been-covid-virus-spread-at-church-rally/

APTN News (2020). Three-year-old dances to cheer those feeling down about the COVID-19 pandemic . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gNhBu7mvfU

Arrazola

Masiello

M. M.

Joshi

Dominguez

A. E.

Poel

Wilkie

C. M.

Bressler

J. M.

McLaughlin

Kraszewski

Komatsu

K. K.

Pompa

X. P.

Jespersen

Richardson

Lehnertz

LeMaster

Rust

Metobo

A. K.

Doman

Casey

, … Landen

(2020). COVID-19 among American Indian and Alaska native persons—23 states, January 31–July 3, 2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6934e1.htm?s_cid=mm6934e1_w

Azocar

C. L.

LaPoe

Carter-Olson

Hazarika

(2021). Indigenous communities and COVID 19: Reporting on resources and resilience. Howard Journal of Communications 32(5), 440-455. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2021.1892552

Baldy

C. R.

(2016). The New Native Intellectualism: #ElizabethCook-Lynn, Social Media Movements, and the Millennial Native American Studies Scholar. Wicazo Sa Review, 31(1), 90–110. https://doi.org/10.5749/wicazosareview.31.1.0090

Baskin

(2020). Contemporary indigenous women’s roles: Traditional teachings or internalized colonialism? Violence Against Women, 26(15–16), 2083–2101. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1077801219888024

Becenti

(2020a). Council attempting to override veto of CARES Act bill. Navajo Times. https://navajotimes.com/rezpolitics/council-attempting-to-override-veto-of-cares-act-bill/

Becenti

(2020b). Former Miss Navajo spends curfew making recipe videos. Navajo Times. https://navajotimes.com/ae/people/former-miss-navajo-spends-curfew-making-recipe-videos/

10.

Brown

(2021). In hard-hit Indian Country, tribes rapidly roll out vaccines. Stateline. Pew. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2021/02/09/in-hard-hit-indian-country-tribes-rapidly-roll-out-vaccines

11.

Cesario

S. K.

(2001). Care of the native American woman: Strategies for practice, education, and research. JOGNN, 30(1), 13–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.2001.tb01517.x

12.

Conti

Heckman

Urzua

(2010). The Education-Health Gradient. The American Economic Review, 100(2), 234–238.

13.

Cram

(2020). Created during the Spanish flu, jingle dress dance now helping First Nations people cope with COVID-19. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/exploring-the-past-finding-connections-in-little-known-indigenous-history-1.5531914/created-during-spanish-flu-jingle-dress-dance-now-helping-first-nations-people-cope-with-covid-19-1.5531917

14.

CrowSpreadingWings, R. (2020). How Indigenous communities are using social media to stay connected. CTV News. https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/how-indigenous-communities-are-using-social-media-to-stay-connected-1.4906162?cache=%3FclipId%3D89530.

15.

CS Staff. (2019). Announcing the women of the indigenous community media councils. Cultural Survival. https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/announcing-women-indigenous-community-media-councils.

16.

Cultural Survival (2020a). 9 ways Indigenous rights are at risk during the COVID-19 crisis . https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/9-ways-indigenous-rights-are-risk-during-covid-19-crisis

17.

Cultural Survival (2020b). Community media . https://www.culturalsurvival.org/programs/community-media

18.

Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2020). Indigenous peoples & the COVID-19 pandemic: Considerations. United Nations. https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2020/04/COVID19_IP_considerations.pdf

19.

Estus

(2020a). We’re going to work together. Indian Country Today. https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/were-going-to-work-together

20.

Foley

(2003). Indigenous epistemology and Indigenous standpoint theory. Social alternatives, 22(1), 44–52.

21.

Goha

Mezue

Edwards

Madu

Baugh

Tulloch-Reid

Nunura

Doubeni

C. A.

Madu

(2020). Indigenous people and the COVID-19 pandemic: The tip of an iceberg of social and economic inequities. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 75(2), 207–208. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2020-214755.

22.

Hanusch

(2013). Charting a theoretical framework for examining indigenous journalism culture. Media International Australia, 149(1), 82–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X1314900110

23.

Hill

Keogh Hoss

(2018). Reclaiming American Indian women leadership: Indigenous pathway to leadership. Open Journal of Leadership, 7(03), 225–236. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojl.2018.73013

24.

IHS.gov. (2015). Basis for Health Services. https://www.ihs.gov/newsroom/factsheets/basisforhealthservices/

25.

Indian Country Today (2019). Changing the “newscape” in Indian Country Patty Talahongva named to lead Indian Country Today’s new television programs. https://www.indianz.com/News/2019/05/16/indian-country-today-patty-talahongva-ta.asp

26.

Indian Country Today (2020). COVID-19 impact: More Native students asking how to get into medical school. https://indiancountrytoday.com/newscasts/dr-hollow-talks-med-school

27.

Indian Health Service (2019). Disparities . https://www.ihs.gov/newsroom/factsheets/disparities/

28.

Indian Health Service (2020). Coronavirus (Covid-19) . https://www.ihs.gov/coronavirus/.

29.

Indian Health Service (2021). Indian Health Service. https://www.ihs.gov

30.

Kearl

(2006). Elusive matriarchy: The impact of the native American and feminist movements on navajo gender dynamics. Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, 11(1). http://scholarcommons.scu.edu/historical-perspectives/vol11/iss1/11

31.

Kraker

(2020). “Every step you take is a prayer”: As coronavirus spreads, women lead virtual dance for healing. MPR News. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/03/17/every-step-you-take-is-prayer-as-coronavirus-spreads-women-lead-virtual-dance-for-healing

32.

Kwaymullina

A. S. T.

(2017). Indigenous standpoints, indigenous stories, indigenous futures: narrative from an indigenous standpoint in the twenty-first century and beyond. https://doi.org/10.4225/23/59927ee585d54

33.

LaPoe

(2017). Indian Country: Telling a story in a digital age. Michigan State Press.

34.

Maracle

Bergier

Anderson

Neepin

(2020). “The work of a leader is to carry the bones of the people”: Exploring female-led articulation of indigenous knowledge in an urban setting. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 16(4), 281–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/1177180120954441

35.

McKee

(2014). Textual analysis: A beginner’s guide. Sage.

36.

Menzies

C. R.

(2001). Reflections on Research with, for, and among Indigenous Peoples. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 25(1), 19–36.

37.

Mineo

(2020). For Native Americans, COVID-19 is “the worst of both worlds at the same time”. The Harvard Gazette. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/05/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-native-american-communities/

38.

Minutaglio

(2020). Navajo Nation is being hit hard by COVID-19; It’s my job to document it. Elle. https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a32271004/navajo-nation-is-battling-covid-19-its-her-job-to-document-it/

39.

Mohamed

(2019, Dec. 15). Indigenous representation in media. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/34bdcbb62ba04aa2a63a2bdc1e8accab

40.

Morris

J. L.

(2004). Textual analysis in journalism. In Iorio

S. H.

(Ed.), Qualitative research in journalism: Taking it to the streets (pp. 163–174). Routledge.

41.

Murphy

(2010). Journalism in Indian Country: Story telling that makes sense. The Howard Journal of Communications, 21(4), 328–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2010.51959

42.

Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) (2021). NAJA empowers a unique network of more than 900 members across Indian Country. https://najanewsroom.com

43.

Pan American Health Organization . (2020). The Impact of COVID-19 on the Indigenous Peoples of the Region of the Americas: Perspectives and Opportunities. Report on the High-Level Regional Meeting. 30 October 2020. https://www.paho.org/en/documents/impact-covid-19-indigenous-peoples-region-americas-perspectives-and-opportunities-report

44.

Pember

M. A.

(2020a). Dancing for the people (virtually). Indian Country Today. https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/dancing-for-the-people-virtually-j-yw-Y0kAUWMgSFXokaO-w

45.

Pember

M. A.

(2020b). TikTok posts can help us heal. Indian Country Today. https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/tiktok-posts-can-help-us-heal-aYR9z9HerkWiZTYas-cSZg

46.

Pember

M. A.

(2020c). Mothers are medicine. Indian Country Today. https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/native-breastfeeding-week-mothers-are-medicine?redir=1

47.

Probst

J. C.

Moore

C. G.

Saundra

Samuels

M. E.

(2004). Personand place: The compounding effects of race/ethnicity and rurality on health. American Journal of Public Health (1971), 94(10), 1695–1703.

48.

Radnofsky

Moschella

Siemaszko

. (2021). Native Americans use culture and community to gain tribes’ trust in Covid vaccine. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/native-americans-use-culture-community-gain-tribes-trust-covid-vaccine-n1256647.

49.

Rigney

L.I.

(1997). Internalisation of an Indigenous anti-colonial cultural critique of research methodologies. A guide to Indigenous research methodologies and its principles. Journal of American Studies, 14(2), 109–122.

50.

Rigney

L.-I.

(1999). The first perspective: Culturally safe research practices on or with indigenous peoples. In 1999 Chacmool Conference Proceedings. University of Calgary.

51.

Rodriguez-Lonebear

Barceló

Akee

Russo

(2020). American Indian reservations and COVID-19 correlates of early infection rates in the pandemic. Public Health Management & Practice, 26(4), 371–377. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000001206

52.

Santilli

(2020). In Navajo Nation, women are on the front lines of COVID-19. Marie Claire. https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a32404944/navajo-nation-women-covid-19/

53.

Srinivasan

Allain

Ellis

(2004). Tribal Peace-Preserving the Cultural Heritage of Dispersed Native American Communities. In Proceedings of International Conference Cultural Heritage and Informatics (ICHIM). (Vol. 9).

54.

Talahongva

(2020). Remember our ancestral teachings and we “will continue to survive” this pandemic. Indian Country Today. https://indiancountrytoday.com/newscasts/remember-our-ancestral-teachings-we-will-continue-to-survive

55.

Tapahe

(2020). Art heals: The jingle dance project. Tapahe Photography. https://tapahe.com/jingle-dress-project.html

56.

Tuhiwai Smith

(1999). Decolonizing methodologies (2nd ed.). Zed Books.

57.

Tuhiwai Smith

(2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. Zed books/University of Otago Press.

58.

Tuhiwai Smith

(2021). Decolonizing Methodologies, Red Talks, San Francisco State University. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bboxzss_PxM&feature=youtu.be

59.

Walker

(2020). Protesters to Indian Health Service: “Be better”. Indian Country Today. https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/protesters-to-indian-health-service-be-better-fqGKk9kbTUORjSU9QFxETQ

60.

Warne

Frizzell

L. B.

(2014). American Indian health policy: historical trends and contemporary issues. American Journal of Public Health, 104(S3), S263–S267.

61.

Yunkaporta

Shillingsworth

(2020) Relationally responsive standpoint. Journal of Indigenous Research, 8(2020), article 4. https://doi.org/10.26077/ky71-qt27. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/kicjir/vol8/iss2020/4