Colonization has always led to illness, disability, & death.
One of, if not the most, influential factors in the rapid and continued colonization of Turtle Island (today known as, North America) has been the communal transmission of disease. Without regard for acquired immunity, rates of transmission, and health disparities, European colonizers devastated Native populations before even drawing a weapon (Native-Americans.org, 2025). Not only were the lives of countless Indigenous peoples lost to these illnesses, but so were their languages, traditions, and cultures, as their colonizers grew hungrier for dominance (Native-Americans.org, 2025).
Modern day repeats these patterns on a massive scale.
Many of us who are clean-air and health conscious have to grapple, daily, with the reality that those around us are not. Whether our co-workers, family members, friends, lovers, or passers-by on the street, we are inundated by not-so-friendly reminders that they’ve ‘moved-on’ (from the most recent pandemic). But the stories of Turtle Island’s Native communities have already shown us this story. Our communities are currently being devastated, at alarming rates, due to the lack of widespread regard for vaccination rates, access to mitigation tools, rates of transmission, health disparities, rapid disease evolution, and more. This will continue to be true in perpetuity, without a drastic shift in public health thinking, outreach, and interventions.
