In May of 2020, the Navajo Nation reported one of the highest per-capita COVID-19 infection rates in the United States. Since that milestone, official data reveal that the Navajo Nation has been one of the hardest-hit populations since the pandemic began. The Navajo Nation boasts the largest population of any Indigenous nation in the United States, and thousands of Navajos live outside the nation, in towns along the border, cities across the country, and in other parts of the world, making it difficult to tally the virus’ impacts on Navajo citizens.

Documenting COVID-19, started at Columbia University’s Brown Institute for Media Innovation and sponsored by MuckRock, hosts local, state and federal document sets related to the COVID-19 pandemic and supports related local reporting. In this training, Derek Kravitz, Mohar Chatterjee, and Kyra Senese share how they’ve tackled the project and how you can build on it.