David Raymond Carey Jr.

As they exposed and deepened social inequities, the 1918 Spanish influenza and Covid 19 pandemics also revealed human capacity for social solidarity and the significance of local-level advocacy to meet basic needs and to facilitate more equitable health care access. I intend to use Indigenous healing knowledge and public health practices as lenses through which to demonstrate that Indigenous peoples possess invaluable knowledge and experience that can help guide pandemic recovery. Even as pandemic recovery programs are developed and implemented, decision makers have little access to information about local organizations, their histories, or their experiences. Through oral history and archival research, this project seeks to ensure that Indigenous epistemologies, knowledge, and experience are reflected in pandemic recovery priorities, and to prevent their historical erasure. “Pandemic Cycles” also will provide insights into the mechanisms of community resilience in the face of existential and material threats.