Wapekeka’s COVID-19 Response: A Local Response to a Global Pandemic

Keira A. Loukes (), Stan Anderson, Jonas Beardy, Mayhève Clara Rondeau and Michael A. Robidoux
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Keira A. Loukes: School of Outdoor Recreation, Parks, and Tourism, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON P7B5E1, Canada
Stan Anderson: Wapekeka First Nation, Angling Lake, ON P0V1B0, Canada
Jonas Beardy: Wapekeka First Nation, Angling Lake, ON P0V1B0, Canada
Mayhève Clara Rondeau: Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P5C2, Canada
Michael A. Robidoux: Indigenous Health Research Group (IHRG), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N6N5, Canada

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 18, 1-18

Abstract: Two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many nations and communities continue to grapple with waves of infection and social fallout from pandemic fatigue and frustration. While we are still years away from realizing the full impacts of COVID-19, reflecting on our collective responses has offered some insights into the impact that various public health policies and decisions had on nations’ abilities to weather the multifaceted impacts of the pandemic. Widely believed to have the potential to be devastated by COVID-19, many Indigenous communities in Canada were extremely successful in managing outbreaks. This paper outlines one such example, Wapekeka First Nation, and the community’s formidable response to the pandemic with a specific focus on food mobilization efforts. Built on over a decade of community-based participatory action research and informed by six interviews with key pandemic leaders in the community, this paper, co-led by two community hunters and band council members, emphasizes the various decisions and initiatives that led to Wapekeka’s successful pandemic response. Proactive leadership, along with strong traditional harvesting and processing efforts, helped to take care of the community while they remained strictly isolated from virus exposure.

Keywords: First Nations; Indigenous health; COVID-19 response; food security; food sovereignty; First Nations governance; subarctic Ontario; traditional food (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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