The Anglican Indigenous Network (AIN), an international community of faithful Indigenous Anglicans, has released a communiqué sharing the impacts that the coronavirus outbreak has had on their communities:
“We acknowledge within the AIN that the impacts will be devastating. Indigenous peoples continue to suffer the effects of colonialism and are minorities in own lands, contributing to substantive social vulnerabilities cause by lack of equitable access to healthcare, adequate sanitation protocols, and in many cases lack of electricity. The added pressures of the epidemic on already limited and restricted resources constitute an extension of historical genocide under the ongoing forces of occupation. As a result of institutional racism and economic disparities within each of our provinces, COVID-19 will result in the intensification of the inequities Indigenous peoples face daily.
“We share these stories with our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion worldwide in order to highlight what we already know is true and part of our daily experience as Indigenous peoples. We encourage each of our provinces to advocate for responses to COVID-19 that are equitable; that acknowledge and respond to already existing inequalities in how Indigenous communities are served, and how historically vulnerable Indigenous communities will be significantly impacted by COVID-19.”
National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop Mark MacDonald provides an update and overview of the realities faced in our Canadian Indigenous communities, beginning on the first page of the full communiqué.
Click here to read the full communiqué (PDF).
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