COVID misinformation plagues California’s Indigenous speakers

COVID misinformation plagues California’s Indigenous speakers

Michael Méndez, [an assistant] professor of environmental policy at the University of California, Irvine who studies how the lack of focus on Indigenous immigrant communities in wildfire planning exacerbates inequality, said this plays into a “Latinization” of these groups, which are often seen as Latinos despite distinct languages and cultures. … “Not having appropriate — culturally, linguistically — disaster planning and response can mean life or death for many of these Indigenous communities,” Méndez said.