"We lost part of history" -Choctaw tribe reflects on COVID onslaught as U.S. nears one million deaths

Record ID: 1671511

  • Title: "We lost part of history" -Choctaw tribe reflects on COVID onslaught as U.S. nears one million deaths
  • Date: 5th May 2022
  • Summary: CHOCTAW, MISSISSIPPI, UNITED STATES (MARCH 7, 2022) (REUTERS) WIDE SHOT OF BELL SPEAKING TO A REPORTER IN CHOCTAW MEDIA STUDIO (SOUNDBITE) (English) JEREMY BELL, TRIBAL MEMBER, SAYING: "It was great to see that everybody was out there playing. Everybody was having fun. You know, it was good to see people smiling and seeing people in the stands enjoying life once again."
  • Embargoed: 19th May 2022 15:02
  • Keywords: COVID-19 Choctaw Health Center Choctaw Indian Princess Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben coronavirus covid deaths
  • Location: PHILADELPHIA + CHOCTAW, MISSISSIPPI, UNITED STATES / UNIDENTIFIED
  • City: PHILADELPHIA + CHOCTAW, MISSISSIPPI, UNITED STATES / UNIDENTIFIED
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Health/Medicine,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA007167803032022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: When Shemah Crosby was crowned Choctaw Indian Princess last summer, it offered a brief reprieve from the cloud of grief that hangs over her rural Mississippi community, where COVID-19 has wreaked havoc.
    But even as she tries to uplift her fellow tribe members, she still struggles with her own loss.
    "I lost my 'pokni,' or my grandmother," Crosby said through tears as she visited the COVID-19 memorial for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. "To say one word, she was an angel."
    The United States is on the verge of reaching one million deaths in just over two years of the pandemic.
    COVID-19 has taken a disproportionate toll among Native Americans due in part to widespread chronic diseases in their communities, such as diabetes, and the historic underfunding of Indian healthcare systems.
    As of March, 130 Choctaw in the Mississippi reservation had succumbed to the virus, a per capita death rate of 1,300 out of every 100,000 residents. That is three times higher than the state average, according to a Reuters tally of public health data. Mississippi leads the nation in deaths per capita.
    Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben became emotional as he recalled their worst period.
    "In two months of June and May of 2020, I know that's just 60 days, but over 60 lives were lost," he said.
    Among them were many family members, co-workers, and friends of Jeremy Bell, who runs the community's bus service.
    "When you lose the first five, you're going to cry, but it got to the point where I got desensitized," he said, adding that he had lost more than 30 family members to COVID-19.
    "I buried a cousin at 11 o'clock on a Saturday, and I stayed down there because at one o'clock I was burying another cousin," he recalled.
    Mary Harrison, interim director of the Choctaw Health Center, said the COVID deaths have left a huge void in their tightly-knit community.
    "They were local artisans. They were part of our traditions, culture - from every age demographic," she said. "They were keepers of our history, and each time a death occurred, we lost part of that history."
    Now, many tribal members say life on the reservation is slowly returning to normal. A pivotal moment for Bell was when tournaments for their beloved sport of stickball resumed last summer, for which he was an announcer.
    "It was good to see people smiling and seeing people in the stands enjoying life once again," he said.
    But the devastation wrought by COVID-19 was never far from their minds. The event began with a tribute to those killed by the virus.
    Chief Ben said that amid the grief, he draws strength from the resiliency of their tribal ancestors.
    In the early 19th century, the Choctaw tribe was the first of the Indian nations to be driven from ancestral land in the southeast of the United States by the government.
    Thousands died of starvation, illness, and exposure to the elements on a 500-mile (805-km) long journey on foot -- known as the Trail of Tears -- to what is now Oklahoma after President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act.
    "Our ancestors went through a lot of adversity and tragedy," said Ben. "Hopefully, one day, the future generation can look upon us to know that we were strong and resilient in our own rights."
    As for Crosby, she hopes that even as pandemic restrictions lift and people forge ahead, they don't lose sight of the enormity of the loss.
    "A lot of us are so ready to move on, but we haven't even reflected on what we've lost," she said. "I feel like we need to take a step back, learn what we've lost...before we can even forget that COVID happened."
    (Production: Kevin Fogarty, Vanessa Johnston, Maria Caspani)
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