An Iwi (Tribal) Response to COVID-19 in Aotearoa New Zealand

This whakataudki or proverb, from Dr. Whakaari Te Rangitakuku Metekingi (LLD, CBE) of Whanganui and Ngdti Hauiti tribes reminds us that, while we must have a vision to aspire toward, we must also tend to the here and now, to the issues that are up front and close to home. It exhorts us to strengthen what has already been achieved and to find ways of creating benefits for others. This paper presents the collaborative response to COVID19 by Iwi (tribes) within Te Ranga Tupua (TRT), a collective of Iwi from the South Taranaki/Whanganui/Rangiakei/Ruapehu regions of Aotearoa New Zealand. The research employs a mixed methods design, based on a Kaupapa Maori approach. The quantitative section identifies the population served and quantum of support provided, while the qualitative data presents the processes and associated learnings from the perspective of those tasked with the response. TRT's response to the threat of COVID-19 is shown to have been grounded in Maori tikanga (values), whdnau (family) based and holistic, taking into account the mental, emotional, social, cultural, and spiritual elements of safety and wellbeing rather than just the absence or presence of the virus. The extensive relationships and networks that existed between tribes represented in the TRT collective were key to the timely distribution of care and support to Iwi members, to appropriate and relevant information dissemination, and to the overall well-being of the people during the most difficult times of the COVID-19 response.

An ethnographic study on the impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on indigenous people and their coping strategies in Bangladesh.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented suffering to the lives and livelihoods of indigenous people across the country, especially in the south-eastern parts of Bangladesh, but the situation has rarely reported by the mass media and academic literature. This study was an attempt to find out the impacts and vulnerabilities of COVID-19 on the indigenous Chakma community at Rangamati sadar (sub-district) of Rangamati (district) in the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) area, Bangladesh. It also aimed to investigate how indigenous people respond to the pandemic and how they can develop resilience to adapt to the adverse situation. For conducting this study, a critical ethnographic approach was adopted, along with participant observation, in-depth interview, and focus group (FGs) for collecting data in the study area. The findings of the study indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic severely affects the traditional way of life, mythology, culture, food security, economic activities, and educational activities, along with increasing health risks for the people of the indigenous community. However, indigenous people respond to this pandemic in their own ways, involving their ancestors' works, avoiding dependence on market systems, keeping faith in traditional medicines, building close relation to nature, along with following some health guidelines announced by government. This work refutes the existing mainstream discourse that indigenous people are unwittingly vulnerable and docile in their waiting for outside assistance.

[Information Strategies in Indigenous Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic].

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on society, especially in densely populated areas. Schools have implemented distance learning, which has spawned many related problems. This paper focuses on the difficulties arising from the epidemic in indigenous communities and how appropriate information strategies may be used to solve these. Four main suggestions are provided to assist indigenous students and their teachers to protect themselves and learn during the pandemic and to ensure that educational goals are achieved.

Understanding the Food Insecurity and Coping Strategies of Indigenous Households during COVID-19 Crisis in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study.

This study examined the food insecurity and coping mechanisms among the indigenous Bangladeshi population of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region to extract empirical evidence on the ongoing discussion on the COVID-19 pandemic-exacerbated food-insecurity situation. The study adopted a qualitative approach by interviewing 60 indigenous households. Data were collected in two phases between 15 June 2020, and 30 July 2021 in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region. Thematic data analyses were performed using the Granheim approach and NVivo-12 software. The authors used Huston's social-ecological theory to explain the indigenous coping mechanisms. The research evidence revealed that most households experienced challenges over daily foods, manifesting in the decreasing consumption of them, the increased price of food items, a food crisis due to an income shock, malnutrition, the shifting to unhealthy food consumption, starvation and hunger, and food insufficiency, thereby leading to mental stress. This study further revealed that the indigenous population took crucial coping strategies to survive the pandemic. In response to COVID-19, they took loans and borrowed foods, reduced expenses, changed their food habits, avoided nutritional foods, relied on vegetables, sold domestic animals and properties, collected forest and hill foods, and depended on governmental and societal relief. This study also provides the in-depth policy actions for the urgent intervention of government, stakeholders, policymakers, NGOs, and development practitioners to take necessary initiatives to enhance the quality of life of the people that were affected by the post-pandemic recovery period.

"I Use YouTube Now in COVID": Understanding Technology Adoption of Indigenous Communities during COVID-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh

Indigenous communities in Bangladesh are comparatively disadvantaged and face several barriers regarding rights. Access to technology and ICT can help indigenous communities open new economic, political, and social dimensions. The recent COVID-19 pandemic necessitated technology adoption for routine use, which is equally important for indigenous communities, but their technology adoption scenario remains unexplored in HCI research. Considering the research gap, we interviewed n=36 (Female 26 and Male 10) indigenous people from six different indigenous communities in Chattogarm and Sylhet divisions in Bangladesh. We found that they are strongly connected in communities, have independent technology access, and have no gender differences. They have a strong interest and eagerness to learn available technologies that help them in their professions, enrich their technical skills, communication, social participation, and expand the business. The study also revealed some challenges while using technology, but that did not negatively impact their usage. The study also discussed the community-centric strengths that helped them fight against the COVID-19 crisis and work for their development. This research impacts HCI literature, revealing the technology adoption scenarios of Indigenous communities in Bangladesh. © 2022 ACM.

Multijurisdictional outbreak of COVID-19 associated with a wake/funeral event in a northern Saskatchewan First Nations community.

Background: Sixty-eight laboratory-confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (12 in Alberta [AB], 56 in Saskatchewan [SK]) were linked to a gathering at a hospital in Alberta on June 1-4, 2020, and a wake/funeral in a First Nations community in northern Saskatchewan on June 9-11, 2020. Objective: The objectives were to provide a comprehensive description of the epidemiology of the outbreak and describe the chains of transmission to inform the hypothesis that there were multiple introductions of COVID-19 at the wake/funeral. Methods: Case investigation and contact tracing was conducted by local public health in AB and SK. The Public Health Agency of Canada conducted a centralized case analysis. An epidemic curve and a Gantt chart for period of communicability were created to support or refute whether there had been multiple introductions of COVID-19 at the wake/funeral. Results: Illness onset dates ranged from May 31 to July 1, 2020. Ages ranged from 2 to 80 years (median age=43 years). Five cases were hospitalized; there were no deaths. The available case exposure information supports the hypothesis that there had been multiple introductions of COVID-19 at the wake/funeral. Public health authorities in AB and SK declared the outbreak over on July 20, 2020; based on two incubation periods (i.e. 28 days) following the illness onset of the last primary case. Conclusion: During multijurisdictional outbreaks, data sharing, coordination across health authorities and centralized analysis is essential to understanding the events that lead to the outbreak and possible hypotheses around chains of transmission.

Social resilience of indigenous community on the border: Belief and confidence in anticipating the spread of COVID-19 through the Besamsam custom in the Dayak community.

The Dayak indigenous community has belief and confidence in taking a stance and taking actions towards a situation and circumstances that affect their social life. This belief is based on their customs and traditions passed down from generation to generation until now. The Dayak traditional custom is a form of social resilience for the community on the border to anticipate the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has become a problem in all aspects of community lives. Despite facing various issues and difficulties in dealing with the pandemic, the indigenous Dayak community in Indonesia has managed to survive and resolve these problems. In dealing with the social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Salako Dayak indigenous community on the Indonesia-Malaysia border carried out a traditional ritual called Besamsam. The indigenous Salako Dayak community believes this ritual boosts the social and psychological resilience of the Salako Dayak indigenous community. The research findings showed that the Besamsam ritual had changed people's beliefs about lifestyle, behaviour and perceptions in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Besamsam ritual can specifically affect the community's personalities, attitudes and actions towards the spread of COVID-19. Indigenous peoples have become easier to organize, dynamic, empowered, resilient, motivated to meet their needs, and capable of facing various challenges and social problems during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings prove that indigenous communities psychologically have strong confidence in their customary beliefs rather than cautionary advice from outside their community. The social impact of the Besamsam custom can serve as a model of awareness and a driving force for indigenous peoples' elements to work cooperatively to break the chain of COVID-19 spread.

Virtual classroom for the continuity of educational services in indigenous communities, during social displacement restrictions (Covid-19), based on medium range Wi-fi antennas

This work includes an experience of implementation and testing of a virtual classroom developed from the use of a Wi- Fi antenna. It was conceived to be used in indigenous communities where there is no internet or any other telecommunications service, and arises as a necessity for the continuity of educational services during social displacement restrictions decreed by the Peruvian government since March 2020. The set of biosecurity measures decreed by the Peruvian government includes the continuity of educational services through distance mechanisms, which includes the use of traditional means of communication or digital media. Most of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon have neither traditional nor digital media coverage, which also generates costs that are largely unaffordable for families. This has generated the stagnation and intermittency of educational services in most indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon. We propose the use of a medium range Wi-FI antenna to be used in indigenous communities to connect as many students as possible from their homes without physical interaction. Functional tests have been carried out on the types of services (electronic blackboards, chats, videoconferencing applications, file exchange, use of software, etc.), with the participation of 14 students. Among the most relevant results, it is possible to conduct virtual classes with the school population;however, it is still necessary to find or experiment with different configurations regarding antenna coverage (in the future we will experiment with more powerful Wi- Fi antennas), energy consumption and even aspects of the connection and computational performance of the personal computer used as the server. © 2021 IEEE.

Mobile application for the dissemination, learning and revitalisation of the native Muniche language in the Peruvian Amazon, in the context of Covid-19

The present work comprises the conceptualisation, design, development and validation of the software called 'Jiaminchií', created to support educational processes in times of COVID-19 and the recovery of the Muniche language. The Muniches are an endangered indigenous Peruvian nation located in the province of Alto Amazonas in the Loreto region. The research group proposes as educational tools the use of mobile software applications to continue with the educational service in indigenous communities, which is a complex problem in Peru, considering the limitations and conditions generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The application has been conceptualised based on the basic contents for learning the Muniche language (review of the dictionary and other documentation), the community of Villa Muniche has been visited and the participation of one of the 3 speakers has been achieved through the generation of a sound bank based on the prioritised contents. The validation included a test group with children from indigenous communities. Two groups were formed, the first used the software and the second received the same contents using the traditional method. Among the most important results, it can be mentioned that the use of the 'Jiaminchií' application in the education of the indigenous communities of Alto Amazonas overcomes a series of limitations typical of schools in the indigenous communities of the Peruvian Amazon. © 2021 IEEE.

Selecting Key Resilience Indicators for Indigenous Community Using Fuzzy Delphi Method

Resilience is the concept that emphasizes change and adaptation and focuses on the capacity to absorb shocks and still maintain function. How can an Indigenous community assess the resilience of the tribe when it is affected by an array of obstacles? What are the assessment factors of resilience? This study consolidated relevant literature on resilience through in-depth interviews and the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) to identify the resilience indicators for Indigenous community development. It eventually identified 5 domains, 26 types, and 45 evaluation indicators. The final indicators are divided into five domains: economic, social, cultural, environmental, and policy. The social resilience indicators: “the ability to overcome obstacles”, “the ability to accept stimuli”, and “the degree of connection between tribal and external resources” were not mentioned in the past studies of resilience. For the first time, the following cultural resilience indicator was also included: “maintain the traditional ancestral teachings and respect for ancestral norms”. Finally, this study suggests that follow-up research may extend these resilience indicators and apply them to other Indigenous tribes. These 26 types of assessment will also be the factors that must be considered in the process of adaptation and reconstruction when the community is faced with emergencies or catastrophes.