Risk Factors Disrupting Wholistic Wellness Among Indigenous Families During COVID-19

The impact of the COVID-19 virus disproportionately affected U.S. Indigenous peoples, who experienced the highest infection and death rates in comparison with non-Indigenous peoples. In this article, we use the framework of historical oppression, resilience, and transcendence (FHORT) to understand how Southeastern Indigenous peoples in the United States navigated hardships associated with the COVID-19 global pandemic. This culturally congruent framework contextualizes imbalances found at individual, family, and community ecological levels, illustrating a direct correlation to sociopolitical, historical, and cultural oppression. This research assessed interconnections of structural inequity and associated disruptions to Indigenous wholistic wellness amid the pandemic. Thirty-one community-based, critical ethnographic interviews were conducted following an Indigenous toolkit for ethical and culturally sensitive research to understand quantitative risk factors associated with participant responses to COVID-19. The following themes emerged: (a) racism, sexism, and discrimination; (b) increased trauma, financial stress, and violence; (c) physical symptoms; (d) impaired unity; and (e) disintegrated support and kinship networks. Risk factors associated with COVID-19 emerged in large part from systemic inequity, incongruence between Indigenous family values and physical distancing protocols, and impaired collectivism. Future crisis interventions should promote traditional protective factors to offset the impact of historical oppression, consistent with the FHORT.