On March 23, the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas issued its first stay-at-home order. In April, the tribe would restrict out-of-state travel, and in May, officials shut down nonessential tribal offices and businesses and eventually banished a tribal citizen for 90 days who refused to comply with the health directive. “He could not come onto tribal lands at all,” said Alabama-Coushatta Chairwoman Cecilia Flores. By June, mask-wearing and temperature checks were mandatory.
In April, the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo issued its first stay-at-home order, mandated mask-wearing, and closed nonessential tribal offices and businesses. And in October, as coronavirus infections began to climb in surrounding El Paso, the Pueblo implemented daily curfews, set up checkpoints monitored by tribal police to control travel, and limited the number of tribal members per household allowed to go out for essential items like groceries and medication.
Indigenous nations, despite taking serious measures to keep their communities safe, are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. To try to keep the virus under control, tribes have enacted stricter guidelines than state or city governments. “We’re just not taking chances,” Flores says. “We’re just too small a population to risk it.”
