PAZA, TREE OF LIFE

In May, 2020, Antinanco and PAZA, Tree of Life, two grassroots non-profit organizations joined forces to raise immediate funds for Native American Communities as the COVID-19 pandemic became a serious threat. The campaign commenced with a private donation of $10,000 from the Taubert Memorial Foundation to assist the Crow Creek, Lower Brule and Cheyenne River Sioux communities in South Dakota with immediate critical aid to cope with the pandemic. In less than 3 months, it grew to over $100,000 in monetary and in-kind donations from 150 organizational and individual supporters, allowing us to expand the reach of the Native COVID-19 Response to 15 communities across 6 states. 

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​“Our Native brothers and sisters living on the reservations are part of the high-risk population who are in immediate danger from the coronavirus, “commented Delwin Fiddler, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and Executive Director of PAZA, Tree of Life, a non-profit dedicated to the revival and preservation of Native American Indian culture.  “Due to the reservations’ poor living conditions, remote proximity to medical facilities, limited food, and scarce medical and preventative resources, the health of our people, especially our elders and children, is at enormous risk of infection and possible death. Our goal is to assist the Native Peoples during these difficult times, and to create public awareness about what is happening with the Native Nations, and to let them know that we are eager to help."

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In the Winter of 2020 the Native Covid Relief Team made it their personal mission to travel to the Dakotas to distribute emergency relief aid as well as to finally meet their partners in ther person. It was a life-changing experinece. Early in 2021 as more madates were lifted, Anitnanco and the Partners for Native Nations continued to work together under the Initiative that morphed out of the Native Covid-19 Relief Campaign: Turtle Island United, to help Native people manuvre their way throught a post-pandamic world.​