Jo Overton is a Mormon Feminist Sicangu Lakota who is leading an effort to get supplies directly to on-the-ground health care workers at Navajo, which has been disproportionately impacted by this pandemic. She is sourcing PPE, sanitizer, and other needed medical supplies.
We invite folks to:
1.) consider a modest donation;
2.) share the Go Fund Me “Protect Native Elders” and site links with your networks or on your platforms;
3.) interview Jo Overton for your podcast or other efforts
Overton is a wonderful interviewee, with an amazing legacy of women activists in her family. She has written for Femwoc (Feminist Mormon Women of Color). She wrote the Foreword for Lakota lawyer and legal advocate Viola A. Burnette’s autobiography Confessions of an Iyeska (2018). She is also featured in Peggy Fletcher Stack’s 2015 article “Message from Mormon Blogger to Scouts: Drop the Native American Symbols.”
In Native culture, elders are the keepers of all the wisdom and knowledge of our people. Without them, we lose some of the very things that make us who we are.
COVID-19 is rapidly spreading through the Native American people and they have very few resources to fight the spread. This could decimate an entire culture and generation of Native Elders.
Native Americans are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in across America.
Among the 51% of deaths for which data on race and ethnicity are known, Native Americans make up 15% of deaths.
As of April 17th, the Navajo Nation alone had 1127 cases and 44 deaths. These numbers are accelerating.
Lack of running water and infrastructure makes the situation even more difficult.
Please help us preserve the native elders, native wisdom and support us in providing PPE essentials and supplies to these communities!
“Protect Our Elders” are committed to 100% transparency for all funding. You can find more details on https://www.protectnativeelders.org.
Southwest Oral History Association 