In this article, we consider the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Indigenous Peoples (IPs) by reporting on information-gathering work across two non-governmental and Indigenous organisations to compensate where federal systems failed. Strategies IPs have employed to understand and respond to the pandemic, and described here, include: collaborative efforts across communities intra- and inter-nationally; open-source data platforms; and small-scale epidemiological research. Our review exposes the informational politics faced by Indigenous organisations and communities, and their struggle to pursue needed resources or protections while avoiding the critiques of ‘post-neoliberal’ and ‘science denialism’. We conclude by suggesting ways that Indigenous communities improve our understanding of their needs during public health crises, and maintain both informational and medical self-governance.