'Callous and dangerous': Tribes see COVID-19 spitting incidents amid rise in cases

Monday, May 25, 2020  

An incident at a grocery store on the Omaha Reservation in northeast Nebraska last week forced a tribally-owned corporation that owns the business to conduct an expensive deep cleaning of the facility.

Lance Morgan, president and chief executive officer of Ho-Chunk, Inc., which owns the Heritage Foodtown in Walthill, said a clerk asked four women who entered Thursday to leave the store. The clerk believed the four had been recently diagnosed with COVID-19.

The women responded by spitting on the floor and windows of the store, located on Main Street in Walthill.

The clerk contacted Omaha tribal police, who are investigating the incident, Morgan said. He said the women had been involved in an earlier incident on the Omaha Reservation.

He said Ho-Chunk, Inc. – an economic development corporation owned by the Winnebago Tribe – had recently spent nearly $20,000 to clean its grocery and convenience stores, including environmentally friendly cold foggings for deep cleaning and disinfecting. He said an individual fogging costs between $2,500 to $3,000.

“Not only is it callous and dangerous, but it’s costly,” said Morgan, who is Winnebago.

Neither Omaha tribal police nor government officials responded to requests for comment from Indianz.Com. None of the four women accused of spitting inside the grocery store responded to requests for comment made through social media either.

The incident wasn't the only one of its kind in Indian Country last week. On Friday, Leaders of Kewa, also known as the Pueblo of Santo Domingo, sent out a warning about a spitting incident on their reservation in New Mexico.

"Governor's Office received recent reports that individuals who've tested positive for COVID-19 are going around the community spitting on people's car door handles," the May 22 memo stated.

"Tribal Officials are working to identify and apprehend individuals responsible," the memo read.

According to the Kewa Pueblo Health Corporation, 50 people within the tribal community have tested positive for COVID-19 as of May 22. That's more than double the number of cases reported at the start of the month.

“To continue our efforts to protect the community, we are extending our Stay-at-home order until further notice,” a May 15 memo from tribal leaders states. “Pueblo members and other persons residing on the Pueblo’s tribal lands are directed to continue isolating in their homes, continue limiting contact with people outside of your immediate household, limiting contact to only those who currently reside with you home. Children and all others should stay with the household they are in now, and not move between households.”

On the Omaha Reservation, 28 people have tested positive as of Sunday, according to the Carl T. Curtis Health Education Center. The tribe also has a stay-at-home order and made masks mandatory on Friday, the day after the incident at the grocery store.

On the neighboring Winnebago Reservation in northeast Nebraska, 13 COVID-19 cases have been reported through Friday. One person died of the coronavirus, officials announced last week.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all who mourn the loss of their loved one," said Dannelle Smith, a tribal citizen who serves as chief executive officer of the Winnebago Comprehensive Healthcare System. "This is a very difficult time for our community as our tribal culture dictates that we should be together, especially when a relative passes away. We must continue to do everything we can to protect our community from further spread of COVID-19, while paying respects to the family."