Indigenous Peoples' Data During COVID-19: From External to Internal

Stephanie Russo Carroll; Randall Akee; Pyrou Chung; Donna Cormack; Tahu Kukutai; Raymond Lovett; Michele Suina; Robyn K Rowe

doi:10.3389/fsoc.2021.617895

Indigenous Peoples' Data During COVID-19: From External to Internal

Front Sociol. 2021 Mar 29:6:617895. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2021.617895. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Stephanie Russo Carroll^{1

2}, Randall Akee³, Pyrou Chung⁴, Donna Cormack⁵, Tahu Kukutai⁶, Raymond Lovett⁷, Michele Suina⁸, Robyn K Rowe⁹

Affiliations

¹ College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States.
² Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States.
³ Department of American Indian Studies and Public Policy, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
⁴ Open Development Initiative, East West Management Institute, New York, NY, United States.
⁵ Te Kupenga Hauora Māori, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁶ National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
⁷ Research School of Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
⁸ Albuquerque Area Indian Health Board-Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center, Albuquerque, NM, United States.
⁹ School of Rural and Northern Health, Laurentian University, Greater Sudbury, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Global disease trackers quantifying the size, spread, and distribution of COVID-19 illustrate the power of data during the pandemic. Data are required for decision-making, planning, mitigation, surveillance, and monitoring the equity of responses. There are dual concerns about the availability and suppression of COVID-19 data; due to historic and ongoing racism and exclusion, publicly available data can be both beneficial and harmful. Systemic policies related to genocide and racism, and historic and ongoing marginalization, have led to limitations in quality, quantity, access, and use of Indigenous Peoples' COVID-19 data. Governments, non-profits, researchers, and other institutions must collaborate with Indigenous Peoples on their own terms to improve access to and use of data for effective public health responses to COVID-19.

Keywords: Indigenous Peoples; data governance; data sharing; data sovereignty; public health.

Grants and funding

P2C HD041022/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/United States