Dave Scott of Swan Lake First Nation: COVID-Community Extended Interview

In “Dave Scott of Swan Lake First Nation: COVID-Community Extended Interview,” environmental scholars Stephane McLachlan and Myrle Ballard interview elder Dave Scott of the Swan Lake First Nation. Scott details his community’s COVID-19 challenges, including lack of adequate housing for isolation, non-compliance with social distancing, disruption of spiritual ceremonies, and conflicting health directives from the Band Office and community health centre. He argues that the community has gained greater autonomy over their public health compared to past epidemics, citing improved organization, better access to medical resources, and stronger support from the Chief, Band Council, and health departments.

Oral histories of previous epidemics, including H1N1 flu and the Spanish flu, describe how community members were confined to the reserve, neglected by the provincial and federal health system, and struggled to access medicine. Scott’s interview foregrounds the underrepresented experiences of Indigenous people on reserves during COVID-19, while also highlighting Swan Lake First Nation’s capacity to adapt and self-organize in response to the crisis.