UNWELCOME DELIVERY

Health center begs for coronavirus tests – and gets sent a box of BODY BAGS instead

A HEALTH CENTER serving the Native American community begged for COVID-19 tests in the midst of the pandemic – and were shocked to be sent a box of body bags instead.

"This is a metaphor for what's happening," Abagail Echo-Hawk, the chief research officer of the Seattle Indian Health Board, told .

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Public Health Department in early weeks of the outbreak was accidental.

Echo-Hawk, however, told NBC she believes the body bags represent a lack of essential resources and funding.

"The Navajo Nation is in a crisis with cases, and there are tribes and other Indian organizations across the country that are in similar crises and can use medical supplies and help instead of watching people die," Echo-Hawk said.

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relief package passed in late March, $8billion in funds was allocated to go toward Native American tribes.

While funds were supposed to be distributed in April, it was put on hold after at least 15 tribes across the country sued the US Treasury Department.

The tribes suing said the funds should be reserved for 574 tribes that have a government-to-government relationship with the US.

Native corporations, which own Native lands but are not tribal governments.

US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled in favor of the tribes for the present time, allocating funding now to only go to the 574 tribes until the eligibility of the Alaska Native corporations can be settled.

An undisclosed portion of the funds will be withheld until that decision is made.

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