RAPID: Mobilization of Rural Alaska Cultural and Community Resources during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This project will identify the sources of Indigenous community strength and resilience amidst the COVID-19 pandemic at two sites in Alaska: the village of Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, and Galena, in interior Alaska. Working collaboratively with their community-based partners, researchers will document and evaluate local pandemic responses in three areas: safety (preventing exposure to COVID-19); security (ensuring access to food, water, healthcare); and vitality (maintaining social life, relationships, and wellness practices). Gambell and Galena are geographically, culturally, and linguistically distinct communities. This research will identify which strengths and resiliencies are shared between these communities and which are specific to each site. This research furthers efforts to understand how COVID-19 affects communities across the United States and identify pandemic responses that benefit the health and welfare of its citizens.

Data will be collected through informal phone and video chat interviews with Indigenous collaborators in two rural Alaska communities. Interviews will focus on daily activities (foodways, expressive culture, family and community life) within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specific issues to be addressed include community-level vulnerabilities such as housing, lack of running water, and sewage treatment; availability of groceries and healthcare services; and effects on elders.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.