Largest tribe in the state. And today marks the first stop of the new sunday series, Velshi Across America. Every sunday, i came to you live from a vital Battleground State from across the country. I learned much more from being out in the field talking to people and so were doing it again but for different reasons. The election is over. Joe biden is president elect and now we have to turn our attention away from the circus that will soon leave the Nations Capital to the most pressing Health Emergency in modern history, the covid19 pandemic. More than 13. 3 million americans have been diagnosed with the disease and nearly 267,000 of them have died. More than 2,000 americans are now consistently dying every day from covid19. While theres promising news about vaccines, while an end to this National Nightmare is in sight, were still many months away from it being safe to return to something that resembles normal. And while we can all look ahead to the seriousness with which the Incoming Biden Administration is taking the pandemic, Inauguration Day itself is still 52 days away. Thats a lifetime for suffering Small Businesses across the country already in the final stages of survival mode, if theyve made it this far. Its a lifetime to wage earners who havent received a paycheck or a relief in check and who are surviving on reduced hours. The effect of the pandemic continues to have on our nations Small Business has been nothing more than catastrophic. Even for those who have been lucky enough to remain open, they do so with a fear that they could be shut down on a moments notice as new restrictions and stayathome orders are instituted across the country. That is why im here. Im going to travel across america between now and the end of the year to places hard hit by covid to hear your stories. I dont know what else to do to help, but i can do what my profession requires of me. My team and i can bear witness. We can listen to you and tell america. We can make sure that struggling businesses and workers are not forgotten and that the cavalry, as joe biden calls it, is coming. And that they know where the help is needed most. Our goal is to help any way we can, to use my platform to bring together experts, whomever is needed, to get you the answers you need right now because theres no time to waste. Theres a tradition among Native Americans of storytelling which is why were starting our reporting in south dakota, at the Pine Ridge Reservation, to tell you their story. South dakota is one of the hardest hit states in the country right now for covid19 on a per capita basis. It has the high egs raest race people testing positive nation. Native americans account for 14 of all covid19 cases and 15 of all deaths. And despite rising numbers in hospitals that are at or near capacity, the republican governor of this state, kristi noem, refuses to issue a statewide mask mandate and saying people who dont want to wear masks shouldnt be shamed because they dont want to. Actually, they should. Because science shows masks work, not only to protect ones selfs, but to protect your fellow citizens. As a south Dakota State Medical Association put it in a statement supporting a statewide mask mandate, masks work to decrease the risk of infection for everyone. Which is why there are restrictions at the Pine Ridge Reservation behind me which recently included a reservationwide shutdown and installed checkpoints to stop the spread. The disconnect between the native american tribes taking aggressive measures and state and federal officials taking a Hands Off Approach has increased already inflamed tensions. Joining me here on site this morning is the state representative, peri pourier. Shes a member of the ogala tribe. The pine ridge begins here and goes now to the border . Correct. Welcome to the show. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me. Tell me about the situation on pine ridge and with Native Americans in south dakota as it relates to covid. Just as you described, were always on a Tipping Point between basic survival and crisis. And right now, any time anything happens, especially the pandemic, were at a crisis. Every time theres an emergency situation, a flood, or any type of thing, we are teetering on crisis and survival. Right now were losing our elders and were not just losing our elders or grandparents, were losing our knowledge keepers, were losing our language. Were losing all of the fundamentals that make us who we are. Its at threat and there are a lot of people who are scared. This was already not an ideal living situation well before covid. You were underrepresented in terms of health care, medical facilities, basic provisions and access. So covid hits you harder. Thats why even though Native Americans make up 9 of the states population, theyre 15 of the deaths. Its just worse if you get sick on an indian reservation. Its worse not only because of our health disparities. We are more young people who were vulnerable, who have diabetes, asthma, all of the threatening diseases that make us vulnerable. Its also our living situations. We have families in one house. We have 14 to 15 Family Members on average living in one house because we dont have housing here. Its across the board, no more where you look at it, we have the highest statistics across the nation, especially with teen suicide, especially with all the other categories that just its threatening a lot of our individuals are at home sheltering in place but theyre still scared because this is something thats in the air and its hard to combat. Especially when were living so closely together. When i drove in yesterday from the airport, just very close to here, as you enter the reservation, theres a checkpoint. The people at the checkpoint stopped me, took down my license plate number, asked me questions, took down my name, asked me where i was going. Seemed like a good protection provision and im hearing from people on the reservation that theyre taking covid very seriously, theres no question about the science. There arent questions about Wearing Masks and things like that. Thats a bit of a distinction from the rest of the state, or at least from what the governor seeks. We believe that were all related. So whenever you look at the way we view the world is the kristi noem likes to say personal responsibility. We have a personal responsibility to each other here. We are all connected. We all are relatives. So looking out for myself and looking out for you first. So thats why were so concerned and we do what we do here is because we care about each other. We love each other. And we want to make sure that we all make it through. Speaking to Somebody Yesterday who was telling me that she believes on pine ridge, 33 people had died. She said in many cases, theres a clinic and its a good clinic. But once you get past a certain point, the clinic is full, or people need treatment at rapid city or places further. She said there are some people who have been hospitalized a few hundred miles from here. We have relatives in omaha, nebraska, that get across the border to minnesota, they get shipped all over the place. Whats difficult about that is that not oftentimes do they have rides home. They get flown out and then who goes who comes and gets them . A lot of times theres transportation issues. During the election, we had individuals who couldnt drive, you know, ten miles to the election site, misplaced election polls. Any little thing is a hardship because life is already hard. Its already a struggle. I want to ask you about why you believe the rate of infection and disease is higher on the reservation than it is in the state as a whole. If you are taking greater precautions, why are people getting sick still . Because of the conditions that we live on a daily basis. We live in a food desert. We do not have a food system here. We have to drive so many miles to get food. A large part of our population depends on rapid city to get food. We have one Grocery Store in pine ridge. Prices are a little bit high there. So we do our economy and getting products and services are off the reservation and then not only that, were just its ill equipped to even handle the infrastructure, our health care. Were unable to stay on top of anything, our housing, our economy, our health care. Its we depend on south dakota to get a lot of our services and its just a difficult thing to really come out on top of and survive through. One of the things that the federal government is not doing right now is passing another relief bill that is going to give loans and grants to businesses. I understand that was helpful to people here in the beginning but theres no more money. People say they cant get loans. Even if they could get loans, they wouldnt know how to pay them back. They need more help. More help is needed here. What is the biggest challenge here is we had a lot of individuals on unemployment. They waited 16, 18, sometimes they never heard back from the state over unemployment rates. Thats something you didnt hear in south dakota. You always hear that south dakota is just fine from our governor, but we have a lot of constituents and a lot of people here on the reservation who waited for unemployment for a long time and that means food, that means electricity in the cold months. Its difficult all across the board. Are you meeting a lot of people who are getting covid . Have you encountered a lot of people in the reservation who have been suffering . Weve been sheltering in place. When we have meetings, its by zoom. I know a lot of relatives who have covid. Its a lot of our elderly, a lot of our grandparents and grandfathers and grandmothers are saying theyre scared to go out because they have health conditions. They dont want to go through that extra suffering and then leave this world possibly. So it is difficult. We know a lot of people who have covid. We just pray, were a very prayful people. Thats mostly what we could do is take care of ourselves, take care of our homes and pray. And just to be clear, there are these checkpoints and there have been lockdowns, there have been curfews here. Yes, theres curfews every night at 10 00. You can hear the siren gs go of. There have been lockdowns and theyre all enforced. I remember a Police Officer pulling everybody over, making sure theyre adhering to the law. Its a hardline approach, but its needed because we look out for each other here. The governor has taken exception to some of these roadblocks. She feels that native communities should not be able to put those roadblocks down. Theyre checkpoints. Its Contact Tracing on a more sophisticated level. I would almost think you would want that all over the place. But the governor is suing and trying to get that stopped. She can sue. She can do whatever she would like to do. But we are a sovereign nations. We have to look out for whats best for us. So we will put those checkpoints in. Well see how it goes with her suing us. But were sovereign. We will do whats best to protect our own people. Tell me, again, that expression you used when you said were all related. Thank you for joining us this morning. Peri pourier is a representative for the great state of south dakota. She represents the Pine Ridge Reservation which youre starting to see behind me. As bad as the situation in south dakota is, the situation in north dakota is worse. One analysis showed that north dakota had the highest covid19 Mortality Rate on earth. Consider this. For the week ending november 19th, last week, south dakota reported on average almost 1500 daily new covid19 cases per million residents while, north dakota, averaged a shocking 1,769 daily cases per 1 million residents. Those are huge percentages compared to new yorks worst week back in april, when the state was the worlds epicenter, new york never averaged higher than 500 daily cases per 1 Million People. Unlike south dakotas governor, kristi noem i seem to have lost audio, so i wont be able to hear them. I may have to ask for a quick commercial break. North dakotas republican governor recently relented and issued a statewide mask mandate. Due to the ive got my audio back. Thats good news. Due to the strain on the States Health care system, at one point last week, fewer than ten icu beds were available statewide. The governor moved to allow Health Care Workers who had tested positive for covid19 to continue working if they were asymptomatic. This is an extremely unpopular position among those who are directly affected, the ones we have tasked with taking care of us during the pandemic. That was really kind of a gut punch for a lot of nurses. We got multiple responses back. Probably over 100 from nurses emailing, texting, calling us saying we dont want to do this. We have been working nonstop, many hours, were tired, were physically and emotionally exhausted. Were pretty much at our breaking points. If we contract the virus, we have to continue to work. Luckily, following a request from the governor, some much needed help has arrived in the form of 60 u. S. Air force forces who were sent to hospitals across south dakota. Joining me now is the mayor of minot, north dakota. We had you on last weekend. Things have changed in a week because the governor has taken this more seriously and the message has gotten to people that they got to wear masks, they got to stay separate. But we had thanksgiving this week and a lot of people disobeyed not disobeyed, but disregarded advice not to travel. How are things for you in minot now . Weve seen a turn around in the last 7 to 14 days with our numbers and watching numbers heading in the direction we were hoping to see. Watching the Infection Rate go down. Yesterday we were at 77 for the county and thats down from over 1400 to 1500 to just over a week again. We we talked about an all encompassing task of a mask mandate across the state rather than individual cities trying to task some of those mandates and not being effective individually, weve seen a better job across the state and more buyin from not just people, but businesses. Thats been a campaign that weve put a lot of emphasize on and getting businesses to help with that with the push as we talked about. North dakota are selfreliant people but those businesses that have been hurting, that have been struggling, this is really their message to help keep their doors open not just temporarily, but permanently and a mask mandate being the legs of that stool for helping mitigate the spread of covid. Its masking, its personal hygiene, its washing your hands and just being selfaware, staying away from large groups. Numbers, at least in warren county, have been going down. Bismarck and fargo have seen the numbers continue to stay steady. Were very anxiously watching to see what comes out of the thanksgiving holiday, black friday shopping. We did see a lot of people at least locally change some of their plans and really reduce the side of what they would normally do for the holiday period. But time will be the test on that. What we saw after the halloween time period, with that big uptick, were hoping that we dont see a repeat following the next 7 to 14 days following thanksgiving. And, of course, im out here talking to Business Owners and workers. Youve actually issued a number of Executive Orders in the last week or so to try and help businesses survive. Can you tell us some of the things youre doing to help businesses make it through these tougher times . What were trying to do with the Hospitality Industry that has been suffering since march, we had a couple of months of shut down in march and we looked back to some of the Different Things we did even in the early stages and that was allows the residents that have a beer and wine license to make those being able to make those deliveries if someone wants to help patronize that business but not go out and personally visit it so that they might be able to deliver beer and wine with their meal. The other aspect was just reducing some of the fees as were coming up on renewal of our liquor license. Theyre small steps but we need to take those steps wherever we can to help those businesses out. Were continuing to look for other avenues either with c. A. R. E. S. Act dollars or local economic development. Dollars that might be used in different ways that have never been done before simply because were in a situation that nobody has every experienced, at least in our lifetime. We need to continue to look for ideas while Congress Gets through whatever it needs to do. Hopefully they can do that before the end of the year. Mayor, good to see you again. Well continue to keep in touch with you. Im here alongside the beautiful Pine Ridge Reservation right behind me. Theyre sovereignty is being threatened by corporations. Nearby where im standing is the future site of the Keystone Pipeline. Its a connection from canadas oil sans to the united states. Tribes around the country, including a tribe in south dakota, are suing to stop its construction. Another Pipeline North of here, the Dakota Access pipeline has been approved to bring oil near native lands potentially polluting rivers that are a major source of water. Then came the Dakota Access protests which came in 2016 and 2017. Those protests against the Dakota Access pipeline shocked the nation into a climate reconciliation discussion, even as the trump era began its roll backs of environmental regulations. Even though the construction was temporarily delayed by the protests, a federal court this summer ordered the pipeline stopped due to Environmental Impact concerns, lawsuits in that case are ongoing. Here in the dakotas, pipelines are power. The legality of running them through occupied lands remains unsettled, but native people believe they hold them back from their conservation efforts. The president S Interior Department has done everything in its power to roll back protections for the environment while proving the Keystone Pipeline and Dakota Access pipeline. It eliminated protections for more than 2 million acres of lands that were considered protected as federal monuments in utah to free them up for mining and oil drilling. The administration literally sold off pieces of public land to the highest winner. But the conservation of land shouldnt be a partisan issue. Once upon a time, republicans led on the issue of conservation in this country, creating the National Park system and the Environmental Protection agency. Republicans under the need to conserve our public lands and to keep the air and water clean, important actions will help our country respond to the threat of climate change. Theres a term you just heard my guest use, it means all things, living and natural, are related. We are all related. Theyve always lived their lives payi paying attention to the power of the natural order. They will make their voices heard when that order is disturbed. Well be back as the sun rises on the Pine Ridge Reservation. S on the Pine Ridge Reservation. O. So now that medicare annual enrollment is here, its time to take advantage of a plan that gives you more for your medicare dollar an aarp Medicare Advantage plan from unitedhealthcare. This opportunity to enroll only comes once a year, so give unitedhealthcare a call today. 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Well guide you through our wide choice of plans, including ppo options that let you see any doctor who accepts medicare without a referral. Take advantage of more benefits, more ways to save, and more support. Catching a Good Opportunity is all about timing, so, Call Unitedhealthcare today. With over 40 years of experience, you can lean on us when you need it most. Well help you easily enroll before the moment slips away. Aarp Medicare Advantage from unitedhealthcare. Its time to take advantage. Im back in south dakota on the edge of the Pine Ridge Reservation which you can see behind me. As you can see, im on the road again. Weve rebooted Velshi Across America. This time im listening to Small Business owners and workers about their experiences during covid. Were kicking things off here in south dakota. I spoke with an oglala mother and daughter. Heres their story. Monna patton and Angel Reddest are a mother daughter pair. They own two businesses. When the pandemic hit, their Movie Theater were one of the businesses to suffer. There was no way we could keep it safe and have movies. Plus The Movie Industry was holding back all of their movies. So i cashed in, you know, some of my iras and we made our payments and stuff and just shut down the theater for a whole year. Reporter theyve tried to use their resources and Business Savvy to keep the theater afloat but it hasnt been enough. We had our last movie on march 20th, i believe, and since then weve only be Doing Concessions or selling concessions which has not been as much money as we would like. But its enough to pay the electric bill and the phone bill and a small salary for one of my workers. Its basically taking our money rather than giving us money at this point. I think whenever you have a business, your asset rich and money poor. When things happen and youre not able to get your goods, youre not able to keep your employees running at your normal shifts and stuff, its very hard to keep going. Reporter help has been hard to come by, whether from the government or the banks who lent them the money to start with in the first place. We ask their people if they would give us a break and not charge us interest, but that wasnt something that they were willing to do. So we still accrue interest every month even though were not in business right now. Its very difficult to think that you have a business that you could possibly lose. We only have we were hoping by the time i was 70 years old, in two years, that we would have this paid off. And now it doesnt look like thats going to be a possibility. They know this is a money pit now and will be for months to come. But its not their only business. Theyve got another source of revenue, its called little angels. Its a convenience store. And covid has presented challenges at that place too. We developed the mask policy. We also have them hand sanitize when they come to the store and we also take a daily Temperature Check of our employees. Two of our workers got covid and other ones have were in contact with covidpositive people and were quarantined. So one week, we had only one shift a day because we were short of workers. I worked with one of the workers that tested positive. So i actually had to go into quarantine, get tested. It just it gives me anxiety, you know, me coming to work, taking a chance. I never take my mask off, but still, you never know rrchl. They used money they didnt have to help coronavirus protocols. We have a person at the entrance of the store to check to make sure people have masks on, to limit the customers to eight people at once in the store, so we can have social distancing and also to have people sanitize before they go in. Reporter even though the pandemic has made life more difficult for these women, theyre still somewhat able to see the glass as half full. I basically actually have a home life now. That in itself is the one of the few good things about covid. People are able to stay home and regenerate and slow down and do stuff for themselves now. You have to look at the positives. Those are two strong, remarkable women. Speaking of Small Business, you can send me your stories and your questions to my story at vel velshi. Com. We have two Business Experts on deck to answer your questions. Youre watching Velshi Across America dwt. America dwt. [ Engines Revving ] america. Velshi across america its amazing to see them in the wild like th shhh. [ engine revs ] for those who were born to ride, theres progressive. [ engine revs ] finding the right words can be tough. N it comes to autism, finding understanding doesnt have to be. We can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. Go to autismspeaks. Org. Experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list sales event. Sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first months payment. Coto build a house, you need ary ststrong foundation. [music playing throughout] the same is true for building a business. Blackowned businesses are an integral part of americas foundation. They lay the groundwork for other black businesses like mine that Turns Concrete into something beautiful. Im kimberley robles, and im the owner and founder of robles concrete design. The Citi Foundation is helping our Community Partners facilitate more loans to blackowned businesses. Welcome back. Im ali velshi. Just so you know, i put my mask on when i have guests with me. When i dont have any mask on, it means my crew is with me, but theyre socially distanced. Thats why youll see my mask on and on during the show. Millions of americans have lost their jobs during the pandemic and as the virus rages, more workers are likely to lose their jobs and more businesses are likely to close. According to a report, more than 1,000 businesses have shut down since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile congress is at an impasse, struggling to close the gap between the 500 billion relief bill and the trillion dollars relief bill that democrats want, leaving 11 Million People unemployed with few objections aptions and fewe. Between now and the holidays, ill be traveling across the country, asking people to share their questions and concerns about businesses and jobs during this pandemic in an effort to help answer some of your most pressing concerns and to help me do that today are Ashish Bhatia, associate professor of management at nyu and Kimberly Weisui, editor at large at ink. Thanks for joining us. I have a ton of questions. I want to start getting to them immediately. I want to ask you a question from susan in california, i especiallyize in highend weddings in sonoma and napa. I got a ppp loan which i was able to pay myself for a while, but thats gone. Im unemployed. Im not sure if weddings will be back next year. I dont have to give up my business. I have good ideas to pivot a little and do marketing and upgrades, but for that, i need funds and i have none. I would like to see our government extend ppp so those who have gotten those loans can access more. A monthly 2,000 payment would be helpful. Is this going to happen and what do i have to do to get my voice heard. First of all, one of the things she has to do to get her voice heard is send us this email. Everybody i talk to, needs more money. Some of these businesses cant take extra loans on because they wont be able to pay them. What do you think is the best thing the government can do right now . First of all, thanks for having me on the show. I think this is a critical topic for us to be talking about right now. And, of course, business like hers that is operating on key milestones is going to be one of the ones were going to see hit across the country. I think were not sure whats going to happen with the government in terms of stimulus. As a Small Business owner, as an entrepreneur, i think its really critical that we do focus on the things that we can do, the things that are in our control. In fact, this is something that we often focus on in the way that we teach entrepreneurship. When youre facing uncertainty, what are the ways that you can improve the level of control in your situation . And one way to do that is think about, you know, what it is that youre good at, who you know, and who you are. And so in this situation, it sounds like, you know, shes thinking about some pivot ideas and i would encourage her to think about how you can make small steps towards that. We often think about pivots that is an abrupt thing that happens overnight. In reality what were learning from research is that theres small steps that are taken that move the business in a new direction. It encourage her to take some of those lowcost steps. Low cost. Kim, let me ask you a question along the same lines of a pivot. We own a cafe that we contracted exclusively with a texas state agency. The offices have closed due to the pandemic and most of the staff are allowed to work from home. Were doing some catering but i have five people i want to put back to work. If we get government funding, will we have to remain in the Food Industry or can we start up a different kind of business to survive the pandemic . First, i want to say congratulations that theyve managed to do some catering and keep the business afloat. Thats fantastic. And i congratulate them. In terms of government funding, we dont know whats coming down the pike and what kind of restrictions there might be on any loan or grant that you might get. However, if there is additional stimulus money and if it sort of follows the same path that other Stimulus Programs have followed, you would be able to use that money to get into a different line of business. You might not technically be able to use it to start a new business, but you could take the business that you have and you could pivot it into something else. So, yes, you would be able to do that and i personally would commend your creativity and hope it works out for you. I want to ask a question, im the smallest of Small Business owners. One person wearing all of the hats of operator, artist and worker. My business doesnt qualify for grants because its either too new or too small. It took two months of calling, emailing and complaining to my local legislature to receive my unemployment benefits. As a craft person, im aware that my recovery will take six months, maybe two years or longer. I switched to online sales but i know that selling in person is much more financially successful for me. How is the government going to restart the entertainment industry, and factoring that the reality would be longer for all of us . We have a lot of questions from restaurants and businesses that have shopped in physical presences. But so much of americas economy is informal, they sell crafts and theyve had a hard time figuring out what the infrastructure is to get help. This is a big challenge. The Artist Community is facing the challenge among the worst. And theres some questions that are providing direct stimulus to artists and, you know, i dont think we have that here. But we do have some private foundational support. I think one thing that this artist could think about is it sounds like theyre making some progress in some of the online sales and of course that can be challenging. Its not your day job to be a social Media Marketing person. But any sort of investment that theyre able to do in that space is going to be able to pay dividends down the road. We know our economy is heading more towards a digital economy. Those investments are going to pay off now. Another opportunity might be to pivot the business a bit and think about what is it that he or she really cares about. If its teaching or doing something with the craft, maybe they can teach that craft to people online. There are a lot of kids who are working or parents looking for ways to occupy their kids. Maybe thats an opportunity. Kimberly weisui, let me ask you the flip side of that. There are many of us who have become so hyper conscious of trying to keep our Community Businesses afloat, buying things we werent going to buy or asking for services we werent going to ask for. Whats the best way to think about that . About how you can use your dollars on things that you would otherwise spend on or even things that you wouldnt, to try and keep those businesses that would otherwise go out of business from doing so . Well, again, the restaurants in most communities are some of the hardest hit. One thing i would think about is not only purchasing through your local businesses, but how youre doing it. If you are having things delivered through a third party app, that may be taking a pretty big slice of revenue from your local business. Maybe you can do Curbside Pickup instead. You could encourage them to offer that if they dont already. Weve said this before, think about gift cards. Some businesses have offered gift cards that increase in value if you hold off using them for a while so you can support your Small Business that way. They get the revenue now and then when theyre in a better position to provide the service and take on that cost, theyre able to do that. Also, if youre in any kind of position in your community where you work with any kind of association, a volunteer club, think about buying for that organization through local and Community Businesses as well to try to get them a little bit of volume to help them through this. And think about those tip jars that you sometimes ignore when youre in a restaurant or offering a tip to people because the workers are so hardly hit by this as well. Were going to have more with Ashish Bhatia and Kimberly Weisui in our next hour. Theyre going to be back to answer more of your business and future of work questions. You can send me your questions at mystory velshi. Com. First, as you know, im on the edge of the Pine Ridge Reservation in south dakota that like other native American Reservations is key in helping the indigenous fight the coronavirus. One tribe is combatting kristi noem for attempting to dismantle their efforts to keep their own communities safe. Im going to speak with a representative of the Cheyenne River sioux tribe next. Next you can check your glucose with a painless, onesecond scan. And now with optional alarms, you can choose to be notified if you go too high or too low. And for those who qualify, the freestyle libre 2 system is now covered by medicare. Ask your doctor for a prescription. You can do it without fingersticks. Learn more at freestyle libre 2 dot u. S. This ones for you. You inspired us to make your humira experience even better. With humira citratefree. It has the same effectiveness you know and trust, but we removed the citrate buffers, theres less liquid, and a thinner needle. With less pain immediately following injection. Ask your doctor about humira citratefree. And you can use your copay card to pay as little as 5 a month. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections,. Including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened,. As have blood, liver, and nervous system problems,. Serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common. And if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections,. Or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Ask your doctor about humira citratefree. The same humira you trust with less pain immediately following injection. If you cant afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. If youve never been out here, make sure once you once covid is over, you come out here. Youre looking toward the Pine Ridge Reservation in south dakota. All of south dakota all of western south dakota and much of the neighboring states was once the great sioux nation. This is now a reservation, its the largest its home to the largest tribe in south dakota and well be talking more about them. Even though were on a native reservation, the problems they face here, particularly as it relates to work and business, are the problems all americans face. Over the next several weeks, i will be going across america, talking to people about the struggles that they are facing until we get an vaccine and end coronavirus. As thanksgiving weekend draws to a chose, here is a story that serves as a reminder that disregard for Indigenous People is not americas shameful history, its our shameful present. This is a story happening right now, three hours from where i am, in south dakota. Native americans are trying to protect themselves from the deadly pandemic that is raging across their lands and not only are they not being supported by federal and state authorities around them, their Safety Measures that theyre trying to take are being thwarted by the official. It wasnt so long ago that they people witnessed disease and death that decimated our population and almost wiped us out. If it were not for sovereign powers of selfgovernment, we would be at the mercy of donald trump and kristi noem which would be a disaster for our people. Those are the words of an attorney and a member of the Cheyenne River sioux tribe which is suing the Trump Administration for coercion and threats made against them by the federal government at the urging of this woman, south dakota governor kristi noem. The tribes that in may governor noem asked the white house to remove checkpoints on state and federal roadways that cut through their reservations like the one you see here on your screen, this one from pine ridge. Theyre part of the tribes robust covid19 programs which include mask mandates, testing events, Contact Tracing, a stark contrast to the laissezfaire policies of governor noem. Joining me now is randy bald eagle, a spokesman and Intergovernmental Affairs coordinator for the which i Yen River Sioux tribe. Thank you for being with us. I stopped at one of those checkpoints last night as i came onto the reservation. They took my car license and asked me how i was feeling and if i had symptoms and what i was doing and where i was going and where i was staying. To Native Americans, disease is existential. Most Native Americans on this continent, and kaencanadians, a mexica mexicans, fighting disease is in your dna. It could wipe out your people. Welcome to the Treaty Territory of the great sioux nation. Were still a nation, were still all here. And its one of the things that often get forgotten in a political battle that surrounds this pandemic. Youre absolutely right, native communities across the united states, particularly in large landbased tribes like ourselves, are extremely vulnerable to pandemics. A lot of people dont realize it, weve fought these pandemics not only in 1918 but as recently as a few years ago when we had a Tuberculosis Outbreak on the reservation. If it wasnt for those experiences, we wouldnt understand the if he Necessity Actions we have to take today, especially when you look at the fact that the actions necessary to control this pandemic havent been taken around us. And your point is not to tell governor kristi noem or the rest of south dakota how theyre supposed to behave. Youre just asking for the ability to have some control over who comes onto sovereign native land. And again, all youre doing is asking them where theyre going, asking them not to stay if they dont have business on the tribal land. Youre just asking for an element of selfcontrol that you believe youre entitled to by law. Yes. Its unfortunate, especially given our geographic location and the state that surrounds our lands, that everybody has the freedom to do what they wish until it comes time for indians to do that. We have thousands of people that live on the reservation and we dont have the resources that a State Government or a federal government has to help control and keep our people safe, so we have to work with the resources we have. And what we have is strong, resilient people who are willing to step up and help put in some Mechanical Engineering controls to help control the flow of this vi virus, because the virus doesnt travel by itself. People carry the virus. When you look at the fact that we have thousands of people that live here and we only have eight hospital beds in our service unit, and the nearest Critical Care unit is three hours drive time off the reservation, and so we have to work hard with what we have. Raimi, im learning some sioux words while im here on the reservation. One is a phrase you tweeted the other day about people staying at home. Tell me about it. Yeah, its important to realize that on our reservation, we ask a lot of the individuals on our reservation. And right now were currently all following all the cdc protocols we can. Were asking our people to stay at home, to keep each other safe, especially our vulnerable populations. Its important when you realize that Indian Country is severely lacking in housing. We have an estimated Housing Shortage of 1,300 homes on just our reservation. And a lot of our homes have multiple families that live in them. So if the virus gets in the one home, were going to have a small spreader event in each individual home. And its one of the things that were really afraid of and why were so vulnerable. And of course youre worried about the fact that as is the case across the country, this affects the elderly, but in the case of indian reservations, these elderly are loyal your elders, the people with the language and the people with the stories and the people with the tradition. 9 of the states population are Native Americans. 15 of the deaths. Remi bald eagle is continuing ins which efforts with the Cheyenne River tribe to try to control the Coronavirus On Indian Lands in south dakota. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for having me on, velshi. I shout out to the tribes for helping to keep their people safe. All of our love to everybody in the state and to our relatives. Thank you. Thank you, sir. South dakota is one of the hardest hit states by the raging covid pandemic. With Health Care Workers scrambling as resources dry up, well speak with one such nurse caught in the outbreak. Plus our Small Business expert panel is back in the next hour to give their best advice to Business Owners and workers on weathering the coronavirus curve. Send me your questions, well answer them on air. More Velshi Across America after this. Did you know that some aluminum free deodorants only mask odor . Secret aluminum free helps eliminate odor instead of just masking it. And is made with 3x more odor fighters. With secret, keep it fresh every day. Secret. With this seal, this restaurant is committing to higher levels of cleanliness. The expertise that helps keep hospitals clean, is helping keep businesses clean too. Look for the ecolab Science Certified seal. Just between us, you know whats better than mopping . Anything at the end of a long day, its the last thing i want to do. Well i switched to Swiffer Wet Jet and its awesome. Its an allinone so its ready to go when i am. The Cleaning Solution actually breaks down dirt and grime. And the pad absorbs it deep inside. So, it prevents streaks and haze better than my old mop. Plus, its safe to use on all my floors, even wood. Glad i got that off my chest and the day off my floor. Try wet jet with a moneyback guarantee good morning. It is sunday, november 29. Im ali velshi. As of this morning there have been 13,311,280 confirmed covid19 cases reported nationwide since the beginning of the pandemic. The death toll has climbed to 266,826. Millions traveled for the thanksgiving holiday despite cdc warnings not to. Those travel plans continue this morning. The tsa reports more than 1 million travelers passed through our airports nationwide on november 25, the day before thanksgiving. Many are returning home today. A Business Insider survey found 37 of people didnt plan to change how they celebrated thanksgiving this year. They traveled on trains, planes, and buses around the country. Dr. Anthony fauci warned