Native America Calling: Five years of COVID-19

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Native America Calling: Five years of COVID-19

Friday, March 14, 2025

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Five years of COVID-19

At least 1.2 million Americans have died from COVID-19 — thousands of them just since January 2025.

As the nation marks five years since the pandemic-causing virus appeared in this country, tune in to look at how Native Americans have recovered — and how they haven’t. Businesses closed down or have yet to regain their pre-pandemic levels, school enrollment remains weakened, and trust in medical science — something Native Americans already lacked — is diminished.

We’ll examine what we learned from the unprecedented public health emergency five years later.

Guests on Native America Calling

Gwendena Lee-Gatewood (White Mountain Apache), former chairwoman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, headquartered in Arizona

Dr. Rebecca St. Germaine (Lac Courte Oreilles), director of tribal health care administration at St. Germaine Data Innovations, a business in Minnesota

Jonathan Nez (Diné), former president of the Navajo Nation

Lavinia Cody (Diné), certified school Diné counselor in Arizona