MASHPEE WAMPANOAG TRIBE COVID-19 PUBLIC HEALTH CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT - The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is pleased to submit this Grant Application to the Center for Disease Prevention and Control for the purpose of helping to carry out public health emergency response activities in response to COVID-19. This funding and future funding will be utilized to carry out surveillance, epidemiology, infection control, mitigation, communications, and other preparedness and response activities for COVID-19. The Mashpee Wampanoag, People of the First Light, have inhabited southeastern Massachusetts for over 12,000 years, extending from the present day community of Provincetown up to Narragansett Bay. Of the original 69 tribes that inhabited this area, the Mashpee Wampanoag are one of three remaining Wampanoag tribes in Massachusetts. Of the three, we are one of two federally recognized tribes, having received federal recognition in 2007. A snapshot of the community shows that, nationwide, there are 2,934 individuals who are enrolled tribal members and, within this quantity, 1,704 members reside within the Tribe’s 5-County Contract Health Service Delivery Area (CHSDA) of Barnstable, Plymouth, Bristol, Norfolk and Suffolk. Of the 1,704 members, more than 70% reside in Barnstable County. The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's location on Cape Cod MA, is extremely populated during the Spring and Summer months as the population swells by 300% due to the large tourism industry. During this COVID-19 pandemic the increased threat of virus infection is enhanced for our tribal community which expands within the surrounding counties and throughout the northeast region, eastern seaboard and into the U.S. The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe serves the large majority of visitors to Cape Cod and the surrounding counties in which a large portion stem from the Boston MA area as they converge to the summer residences on the Cape Cod area. At the present time we have experienced an extremely large population influx due to escape from COVID-19. The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Emergency Management Department seeks to promote a less vulnerable tribal nation within our whole Tribal Community as we seek to build and sustain our capabilities and address the current COVID-19 pandemic. Although we are a relatively small tribe, the challenge in accomplishing this goal lies in the distance between the Community and Government Center, the operating and social hub of our tribal community, and the location of our various non-contiguous trust lands and properties, located in Mashpee, Middleborough (Middleboro), New Bedford and Taunton. While there is no trust land in Middleborough or New Bedford, we have historical and family ties, and a significant population of enrolled members living in those cities. Compounding this challenge, is the overall lack of trained individuals in public health emergency procedures; the summation of which, is the need for, surveillance, epidemiology, infection control, mitigation, communications, and other preparedness and response activities for COVID-19 while in the midst of this Nationwide pandemic event. Due in part to the size of the tribal community in these towns, and the 60 mile distance to any one of them, there is a need for a coordinated, well-thought out public health planning for public health preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. The tribal community to this point has already suffered economic and health losses due to the current COVID-19 crisis. There is also a real need for the Emergency Management Department, with help from the community and surrounding jurisdictional partners, to close the public health capability gaps as they exist through preparedness of incident management tribal staffing, through outreach and training, through increasing the contact tracing outreach, health information technology establishment, technical assistance and through responsibly bolstering and solidifying our ability to respond, recover, and mitigate impact from these extreme public health threats.
