Native American leaders across California said COVID-19 deaths are a shadow on their communities, yet state figures show few American Indian people have died here compared with other states. Leaders and experts fear their community's deaths have been undercounted because of a long history of Native Americans being racially misclassified. And data shows they may be correct. This unacceptable and damaging practice can bar Native people from getting the help and resources they actually need, they said. California has the largest number of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States and the largest number of American Indians and Alaska Natives living in urban centers. They are often declared white, Latino or Black on official forms by uninformed hospital workers, according to community leaders and various studies. Sometimes they are simply listed as "other."