 The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Lisa Hardy, Northern Arizona University; Gwendolyn Saul, Northern Arizona University, and Sonja Michal Smith, Northern Arizona University THE CONVERSATION In the days before Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey changed course by urging people to stay home, Scottsdale city councilman Guy Phillips donned a face covering and shouted I cant breathe into a microphone at an anti-mask rally. His mocking of the last words of George Floyd is only one more example of the racism that seems to shadow the outbreaks of contagious viruses. Thats precisely what happened 40 years ago with HIVAIDS; thats what happened a century ago with the xenophobically named Spanish flu. Today, its happening on sovereign tribal lands throughout the American Southwest, where the loathsome relationship between racism and the novel coronavirus is on full display. Our ethnographic studies include a focus on health care and health policy for the Indigenous people of the U.S. We now know COVID-19 cases and deaths within the Indigenous nations have soared, and are among the worst hot spots in the country. Currently there are well over 7,000 positive cases on the Navajo Nation - which covers portions of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico - where per capita infections quickly surpassed New York and New Jersey in May. One of the reasons: When Gov. Ducey first let expire his statewide stay-at-home-order, droves of Arizonans returned to life as usual. They congregated in long lines and dined in crowded restaurants. Many were not wearing masks. Fourteen days later, COVID-19 cases began to rise. With that, Arizona lost control of the virus. Indigenous people already live with existing challenges to health and life.About 18 of COVID-19 deaths... 