Not Your Playground: Amid COVID-19 Pandemic Flash Foxy Cancels Women’s Climbing Festival in Payahüünadü, and Here’s Why You Should Cancel Your Plans Altogether
Photo by Tommy Lisbin
Among the cancellations of major events like South by Southwest, Coachella, and various summits, conferences, and concerts, Flash Foxy followed suit by cancelling their massively popular and sold-out Women’s Climbing Festival (WCF) that takes place every March in Payahüünadü (the Nümüü word for “place of flowing water,” something we learned from Jolie Varela of Indigenous Women Hike).
This is a commendable action at this time considering how easily the new coronavirus can spread and how many people are infected without knowing it. Payahüünadü is home to indigenous communities who are most vulnerable to epidemics because of the intentional design of white settler colonialism and the way white colonizers have been hoarding wealth and resources since invasion day.
Our Society Under White Settler Colonialism is Designed to Insulate the Wealthy Elite and Deprive Everyone Else
As Vienna Rye writes, “People do not simply ‘lack resources,’ we are intentionally deprived of them. Inequality is structurally designed [to be] racist, ableist, gendered, class violence, not an individual character flaw. To maintain its oppressive status quo, neoliberalism strips structural critiques down to individual [critiques]. We vote for individuals who ‘perform democracy’ best, while ignoring that democracy has never existed on a structural level.” Rye also points out that the government has every ability to provide people with the resources they need as evident in how Wall Street received a cool $1.5 trillion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in short-term loans.
Resources in remote Payahüünadü are already hard to come by outside of a national crisis. If climbers descend upon Payahüünadü in the same manner they do every year, most of whom will be wealthy, white people -- the demographic who can largely afford to attend the WCF -- the community could experience an even more difficult time getting the things they need to be as prepared as possible for social distancing, and in some cases, self-quarantine. If WCF attendees, and recreationists of any kind, continue with their plans to visit Payahüünadü, or any sacred land that has compromised access to resources, that goes for places outside of Turtle Island as well, they are consequently putting an undue burden on those most at-risk for infection: the indigenous peoples.
Jolie Varela Encourages Everyone to Consider Our Elders and Those Who Are Immunocompromised
Jolie Varela facilitating a panel discussion about Indigenous history, activism, and resilience in Payahuunadu.
Food, supplies, and basic necessities are already being wiped out, and restocking the shelves in a timely manner is difficult for trucks that come from larger cities. Jolie Varela of Indigenous Women Hike shared this message yesterday on Instagram:
“Please don’t think of this as vacation time. Please don’t come to Payahuunadü (Owens Valley) and expose our vulnerable communities when we have limited resources and limited access to hospital services. Mammoth Mountain ski resort has closed but people are still coming to recreate. I’ve also gotten word that even though the women’s climbing festival was postponed that a lot of people will still be coming to climb in Payahuunadü. CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE. I encourage people to stay home. I do not want to induce panic but I am thinking of the well-being of my community—our elders and those who are immunocompromised.
We also have very few stores here. Consider that when you come here and head to the store you can be taking food and supplies out of the homes of us who live here. ALL of the stores we have here are out of TP and cleaning supplies.
Our homelands are not your playgrounds or places for you to escape during this crisis. Understand that this privileged way of thinking can put our elders and vulnerable loved ones at risk. As an aunty of babies who are vulnerable and as someone who is deeply concerned for the health of our culture bearers(our elders) I urge you to think of the health of our community.”
Flatten the Curve
When you have more individuals in an area, you increase the likelihood of an infection spreading, which is why social distancing, along with other proactive and precautionary measures, is so important right now. Unbeknownst to you, you could be a vessel for the virus to spread. It’s clear that we cannot stop this infection without a vaccine, but we can flatten the curve. Flattening the curve is the most beneficial outcome we could hope for in order to avoid the tragic reality of what is happening in Italy right now.
Self-Care is Community Care
As always, self-care is community care. To be in solidarity with each other at this time means staying home if you can, finding connection from a distance, and adapting to a new way of life, at this moment, for the betterment of all.
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