Irish Donate to Native Americans During Pandemic to Repay 170-Year-Old Debt

Heavy

Paybacks and karma don’t always have to be a bad thing. Sometimes a kindness your ancestors did 173 years ago can come back around when you need it most. This what the Navaho and Hopi Nations are learning as dozens of people from Ireland make donations to the Native American Tribes’ GoFundMe Page for COVID-19 relief.

According to an administrator for the page, Vanessa Tulley, “Several of our recent donations for our GoFundMe campaign have been inspired by the Great Hunger Famine in Ireland which started in 1845.”

What she is referring to is the time that the Chocktaw Nation donated $170 to the Irish during their Great Famine when around one million people died of starvation in that country. The year was 1847, so that amount of money would be worth a little over $5,000 today.

Tulley wrote:

Not long before the Great Hunger Famine in Ireland, 60,000 Native Americans, including the Choctaw people, had suffered through the experience of the Trail of Tears. The death of many people on the Trail of Tears sparked empathy for the Irish people in their time of need. Thus, the Choctaw extended $170 of relief aid. 173 years later to today, the favor is returned through generous donations from the Irish people to the Navajo Nation during our time of crisis. A message from Irish donor, Pat Hayes, sent from Ireland across the ocean: “From Ireland, 170 years later, the favour is returned! To our Native American brothers and sisters in your moment of hardship.”

Read the rest here: https://heavy.com/news/2020/05/ireland-shows-solidarity-with-native-americans/