Facebook Twitter Email
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2001

Indian Country is too isolated and its journalists aren't visible enough for Native newspapers to be worried about being exposed to the anthrax bacteria that has been reported in three states and Washington, D.C., editors and journalists said on Monday.

"People here are not that concerned," said Duane Beyal, managing editor of The Navajo Times. "In a way, we're so far removed from the battle."

With about 18 reporters, the Window Rock, Arizona-based paper hasn't taken any special measures in response to the threat, said Beyal. Larger organizations such as The New York Times, on the other hand, are carefully inspecting their mail for fear an innocent white powder could cost people their lives.

So far, one person has died in Florida, and at least 12 others have been exposed to or contracted anthrax. In addition to the Washington, D.C. office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) receiving a letter containing anthrax yesterday, officials in New York last night confirmed the 7-month-old son of an ABC News employee has been infected.

But in the Plains, where anthrax is not unknown due to cattle herding, the scare hasn't affected the newsroom of the nation's largest Native newspaper. "Nobody out here is panicking over it, they're just taking precautions," said David Melmer, editor of the South Dakota-based Indian Country Today.

The paper did run a story last week about anthrax. But Melmer points out the focus was to determine the Indian Health Service's preparedness should the threat reach reservations.

"We just wanted to make sure they had the capability on the Navajo Nation or here at Pine Ridge" to deal with anthrax, he said.

Former KTNN reporter Pat Murphy said he wasn't particularly worried about anthrax either. He covered a wide area of the Navajo Nation before moving to Houston, Texas, recently.

"I hold no fears on the subject," he said. "I can only say that as a journalist, I must continue working no matter the 'threat.'"

Along with Jodi Rave Lee, the only Native reporter at The Lincoln Journal Star in Nebraska, Murphy noted that bio-terrorism is nothing new to Indian Country. Whether it was smallpox sent in blankets or diseases carried by explorers, tribes have come face-to-face with danger, they said.

Yet mainstream media hasn't really documented the parallel. "They bring up references to the bubonic plague [in Europe]," observed Lee, "but bio-terrorism . . . is something that is very real to tribes across the country."

For its part, the Indian Health Service, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, says it is prepared for a possible threat. IHS clinics and pharmacies do have the anti-biotics Cipro to treat anthrax, said a spokesperson.

Otherwise, the IHS considers Indian Country an "unlikely target." Urban Indians may be affected, but would be covered under response plans in those areas, said a spokesperson.

Still, living in a remote area may not provide security to everyone. "Here in the West or Midwest, we do really seem far removed from it," said Lee.

But, she added, "if terrorists really wanted to send a message that no one is immune from their activities, we would be the perfect target."

Relevant Links:
Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program, Department of Defense - http://www.anthrax.osd.mil
The Navajo Times - http://www.thenavajotimes.com
Indian Country Today - http://www.indiancountry.com
KTNN - http://www.ktnnonline.com
Native News, the Lincoln Journal Star - http://www.journalstar.com/native

Related Stories:
Poll: Public concerned about anthrax (10/16)
Letter mailed to Senate has anthrax (10/15)
New York City hit with anthrax scare (10/12)