Indigenous Resilience
and COVID-19®
Native people care for one another through greetings, food, dance, ceremony, and much more. These cultural practices have sustained our people through many hardships and been a way to celebrate joyful moments. We deeply value our families and communities and have always adapted to ensure the safety of the next generations. In the face of COVID-19, it is important for us to hold our values close while also adapting the ways we show love.
"We need physical distancing and social closeness right now." - Dr. Megan Bang (Ojibwe)
You have probably heard of this idea called “social distancing.” This means limiting close face-to-face contact with others to reduce the spread of COVID-19 (CDC, 2020a). Combined with masks and hand hygiene, maintaining at least six feet distance is the best way to keep our relatives safe (CDC, 2020a), but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep our people socially and culturally close!
And do not forget, humor is one of the best medicines!
CancerHelp Online® is a patient education program of The CancerHelp Institute, an official Content Distribution Partner of the National Cancer Institute.
