COVID will rank as one of the worst disasters to befall the Navajo Nation. We will survive it, like hwéeldi, livestock reduction, and the many monsters from our past worlds. But it will change us, and it’s far from over. Everyday we learn of new cases and more deaths.

At first we noted the long-standing colonial conditions that made Diné people more at risk, such as lack of water and water infrastructure, few grocery stores, and underfunded IHS health care system.

Today, we face a new challenge, bordertowns that prey on Diné dollars, but that are governed by COVID deniers. We are also impacted by the policies of the state governments, hostile to tribal sovereignty that amplify the risk. Arizona downplayed the threat and is now in crisis.

Our way forward needs to revitalize our local food systems and food economy, improve infrastructure through public spending (stop hoarding money in “fund” accounts), and we must transform how we use and conserve water, ignoring and challenging western water laws.