At least 1.2 million Americans have died from COVID-19; thousands of them just since January. As the nation marks five years since the pandemic-causing virus appeared in this country, we’ll 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

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

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

Jonathan Nez (Diné), former Navajo Nation President

Lavinia Cody (Diné), certified school Diné counselor

Break 1 Music: The Gift of Life (song) Randy Wood (artist) The Gift of Life (album)

Break 2 Music: Old Alberta (song) Blue Moon Marquee (artist) Scream, Holler, and Howl (album)