COVID Vaccine Pop-Up in Los Angeles and the Rights of Mother Earth

04/30/21 • 58 min

Part 1: With the County of Los Angeles in California home to the largest urban Indigenous population throughout the politically defined borders of the settler colonial United States, declining SARS-Cov-2 rates, and SARS-Cov-2 vaccinations slowly becoming available, a collaboration between LA Native COVID-19 Response, the California Native Vote Project, United American Indian Involvement Inc., the American Indian Counseling Center, the Los Angeles City/County American Indian Commission, and Kedren Vaccines organized the American Indian, Alaska Native, and Indigenous COVID-19 Vaccine Pop-up community outreach event for free SARS-Cov-2 vaccinations, PPE, and food boxes for in-need Los Angeles American Indian, Alaska Native, and Indigenous populations. The American Indian, Alaska Native, and Indigenous COVID-19 Vaccine Pop-up will take place this May 1st and May 29th, 2021 at the Los Angeles State Historic Park from 10am to 2pm. Vaccines will be provided regardless of the documentation status, and PPE and food boxes will be available for those community members in need. To RSVP, call 626-798-0505 or 626-398-6174 or email: [email protected]. For individuals requiring transportation within fifteen miles of the Los Angeles State Historic Park, please visit www.vaccinesrydes.com or call 1-887-VAC-RYDE (877-822-7933). Flyer information is below. Today’s guest provides important and detailed COVID-19 related information impacting the larger Los Angeles County Indigenous populations and logistics for the community outreach event, plus more. Guest: Dr. Andrea Garcia, M.D. (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara Nations) is an appointed commissioner with the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission, works with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health/American Indian Counseling Center, and is a board member for the United American Indian Involvement, Inc. (UAII). Part 2: Indigenous peoples and their respective First Nations are on the frontlines of Mother Earth struggling and resisting against violent forms of colonialism including nefarious manifestations of ecocides, democides, genocides, and the full dominant spectrum of “cides”. Today’s guest was the keynote speaker on April 19th, 2021 at the Strengthening the Circle: A Native Non-profit Leadership Program which thematically focused on the Rights of Mother Earth. The event organizers are Generation Indigenous Ways, Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples, Inc., Artemisia Associates, Wolfstar Productions, and Hopa Mountain. Turn in for part one of a two-part key note speech on “The Rights of Mother Earth” by a preeminent Indigenous elder, scholar, activist and more on American Indian Airwaves. Guest: Dr. Henrietta Mann (Tsetsehestaestse [Cheyenne] Nation), elder, activist, scholar, founder of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal College, Endowed Chair in Native American Studies at Montana State University, and current Board Chair of the Board of Directors for the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples, Inc.

Previous Episode

Climate Change – Getting on Board?

Indigenous peoples and their respective First Nations are on the frontlines of Mother Earth struggling and resisting against violent forms of colonialism including nefarious manifestations of ecocides, democides, genocides, and the full dominant spectrum of “cides”. With over 77 Indigenous nations on the coastline of Te Ika a Maui, the north island of Aotearoa (New Zealand) and 67% of those territories are marine territories, today’s guest discusses a variety of issues including Maori acts of resistance, cultural traditions, being good ancestors, decolonization and reindigenization, and how and why colonial violence perpetrated against Mother Earth are intrinsically crimes committed against Indigenous peoples and their respective First Nations. Today’s guest participated in a panel titled “Climate Change – Getting on Board?” on April 21st, 2021 at the Strengthening the Circle: A Native Non-profit Leadership Program which thematically focused on the Rights of Mother Earth. The panelist facilitator is Tia Oros Peters, Shiwi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples and event organizers are Generation Indigenous Ways, Seventh Generation Fund, Artemisia Associates, Wolfstar Productions, and Hopa Mountain. Guests: Tina Ngata is a mother of two from the East Coast of Te Ika a Maui, the north island of Aotearoa (New Zealand) and is a Project Researcher Specialist, Institute of Environmental Science and Research in New Zealand (Aotearoa). Ngata’s work involves advocacy for environmental, Indigenous, and human rights. This includes local, national and international initiatives that highlight the role of settler colonialism in issues such as climate change and waste pollution and promote Indigenous conservation as best practice for a globally sustainable future.

Next Episode

Cancer Prevention in the Crow Nation and the Rights of Mother Earth Part 2

Part 1: According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “American Indian and Alaska Native people were more likely to get liver, stomach, kidney, lung, colorectal, and female breast cancers than White people in most regions. In fact, compared to White women, Native American women had higher rates of getting liver, stomach, kidney, colorectal, and cervical cancer.” Today’s guest tirelessly works at the community level within the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation to provide medical and health outreach regarding cancer prevention methods, cancer awareness, and appropriate treatment methods for all Apsáalooke citizens. Turn in for more information regarding our guest works, allies and supporter’s assistance, and collective efforts of the Messengers for Health, an Indigenous 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located on the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation in Montana. Our mission is to improve the health of individuals on the Crow Indian Reservation and outlying areas through community-based projects designed to strengthen the capacity of communities and empower them to assess and address their own unique health-related problems. Guest: Alma Knows His Gun-McCormick (Apsáalooke Nation), “is a member of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation and fluently speaks her language. Her compassion for working with cancer stems from her personal experience of losing her daughter to cancer. From 1996-2000 she was the Outreach Coordinator for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded Montana Breast and Cervical Health Program. She first conducted outreach education with Apsáalooke Indian women, feeling a breakthrough about the awareness of the importance of the Pap test and mammograms. Later, she provided culturally sensitive education to all Indian women on the seven reservations and in urban Indian clinics in Montana. Alma’s focus has been on health education with the dream of continuing her work with women and men on the Crow reservation. She has fulfilled that dream by being the Executive Director for the Messengers for Health Program. She is a single mother with two sons, one daughter, and five grandchildren.” Part 2: Indigenous peoples and their respective First Nations are on the frontlines of Mother Earth struggling and resisting against violent forms of colonialism including nefarious manifestations of ecocides, democides, genocides, and the full dominant spectrum of “cides”. Today’s guest was the keynote speaker on April 19th, 2021 at the Strengthening the Circle: A Native Non-profit Leadership Program which thematically focused on the Rights of Mother Earth. The event organizers are Generation Indigenous Ways, Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples, Inc., Artemisia Associates, Wolfstar Productions, and Hopa Mountain. Turn in for Part Two of a two-part keynote speech on “The Rights of Mother Earth” by a preeminent Indigenous elder, scholar, activist and more on American Indian Airwaves. Guest: Dr. Henrietta Mann (Tsetsehestaestse [Cheyenne] Nation), elder, activist, scholar, founder of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal College, Endowed Chair in Native American Studies at Montana State University, and current Board Chair of the Board of Directors for the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples, Inc.