Kathleen George grew up in Oregon hearing cautionary tales about the mythological figures Wolf and Coyote. One of those ikanum, or traditional stories, that sticks with her today is the story of Coyote and the Big Sickness.

An oral tradition of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the story describes how Coyote tried to defeat the Big Sickness on his own, using his innate trickery against the formidable foe. But in the end, Coyote had to find an ally. He turned to the little Mouse for help, and exploited the Big Sickness’ own weaknesses.

Such stories are traditionally told in the cold of winter and not repeated after the “frogs start singing” in the spring, when there is work to be done on the land.

But George, now a member of the Grand Ronde Tribal Council, has repeated the Big Sickness tale over and over since COVID-19 came to Oregon more than a year ago. It comes with important lessons for today’s pandemic.

“No. 1, don’t be selfish and just try to abandon other people to save yourself. You know that kind of selfishness doesn’t work,” George said. “No. 2, we have to be true to ourselves. And thirdly, we have to work together. We can’t get through this alone. We have to come together and help one another out.”

She said traditions and cultural practices have helped Native communities cope with the COVID-19 outbreak. Tribal governments are also able to use their sovereignty as a weapon against the virus, closing their borders or imposing restrictions that state, county, and municipal governments couldn’t or wouldn’t enforce.

“Despite the fact that this COVID-19 pandemic is a spectacular, unprecedented event, being a tribal person, we come to that in a little bit of a different context,” George said. “So while these are very difficult times, I’ve tried really hard to remember that we’re fortunate that our ancestors left stories to help guide us.”

Read the full article about traditions helping fight COVID-19 by Heather Wiedenhoft at The 74.