The Tsilqot’in Nation has released a comprehensive COVID-19 report with 40 calls-to-action.
The report is called Dada Nentsen Gha Yatasig; Tsilqot’in in the Time of COVID; Strengthening Tsilqot’in Ways to Protect Our People, which translates to “I am going to tell you about a very bad disease”. The report is 160-pages, and was generated in partnership with University of British Columbia researchers, and it documents the Tsilqot’in Nation’s experiences, achievements, and lessons learned throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report comes with 40 calls to action, with recommendations for all levels of government, which will address the ongoing need for:
- Recognition of inherent Indigenous jurisdiction in emergency response and recovery.
- Improved health data sharing during a public health emergency between all levels of government and the Nation
- Long-term funding to address mental health issues that have worsened due to the pandemic
- Response to systemic racism in emergency management and health care.
- Building on the important investigative work of Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond in the
the report, In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in BC
Health Care (2020) and the UN Special Rapporteur in the Report on the impact of
COVID-19 on the rights of Indigenous Peoples (2020), this report provides a nation-specific plan toward true collaboration and partnership.
The report builds from the previously released Tsilqot’in Wildfire Report, The fires Awakened Us (2019).
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