Tribe, economy, even cemeteries hurt as virus hits Choctaws

LEAH WILLINGHAM

Associated Press/ Report for America

PHILADELPHIA, Miss. (AP) — When Sharon Taylor died of coronavirus, her family — standing apart, wearing masks — sang her favorite hymns at her graveside, next to a tiny headstone for her stillborn daughter, buried 26 years ago. Fresh flowers marked row after row of new graves. Holy Rosary is one of the only cemeteries in this Choctaw Indian family's community, and it's running out of space — a sign of the virus's massive toll on the Choctaw people.

As confirmed coronavirus cases skyrocket in Mississippi, the state's only federally recognized...