How Our Indian Country Flattened the Curve

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has for centuries practiced the Booger Dance to ward off illnesses and other malevolent forces. As night descends, men selected as “boogers,” or evil entities, appear in tattered clothing and absurd masks made from gourds, wood, or hornets’ nests. They mimic outsiders (typically Euro-Americans) and exaggerate lewd behavior as they dance. I was taught growing up that the dance stemmed from the tribe’s experiences with devastating sickness such as smallpox, which Europeans brought to American soil. The ceremony is a reminder that we must always work to keep our home and people safe.

I am an enrolled member of the EBCI and a lifelong resident of our ancestral lands. This is my first pandemic, but not my tribe’s. COVID-19 is merely our sovereign nation’s latest test of resilience. We are one of the largest federally recognized tribes on the East Coast, with more than 16,000 enrolled members. We are also a community that depends heavily on tourism. While some of our counterparts in Indian Country are facing crisis-level death tolls, the EBCI has ensured that our health-care facilities meet crucial needs, that community members receive essential services, and that our economy is stabilized during the shutdown. We have managed, in fact, to handle the pandemic more effectively than many other areas in North Carolina.

Cradled by Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Qualla Boundary—our land—comprises 56,000 acres in western North Carolina, across five counties. Not unlike other American Indian nations, the EBCI has rates of diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and substance abuse far exceeding the national averages for other subgroups. Knowing that these factors would put the EBCI at extreme risk for the coronavirus, tribal health officials began discussing the potential impact on the Qualla Boundary with Principal Chief Richard Sneed very early—before January 20, when the United States reported its first case of COVID-19.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/how-our-indian-country-flattened-the-curve/614734/