Navajo Nation Thanks Irish for Helping Them During COVID-19

[Ladybbird]

Irish Payback Great Hunger Kindness Reaching Out to Native Americans Struck by COVID-19

A large number of Irish people are donating money to Native American tribes affected by COVID-19 as a means of repaying the generosity of Native Americans toward Irish people during the Great Hunger.

Irish Central, 5 MAY 2020





At least 41 people in the Navajo Nation in Utah, New Mexico and Arizona have contracted the virus.


Irish people are supporting a GoFundMe providing relief to the Navajo and Hopi families which has raised more than $1.4 million.

The donations are directly related to the Famine in 1847 when the Choctaw Nation heard about Ireland's plight and generously donated $170 (around $5,000 today) to the cause.




Around 60,000 Native Americans, including the Choctaw people, had just suffered through the Trail of Tears which made them empathetic to Irish people suffering the worst effects of the Famine.


The Choctaw, who had just relocated to Oklahoma from their ancestral home in Mississippi, dug deep for people thousands of miles away who they had never heard of.

Now, Irish people are returning the favor...

A spike in COVID-19 cases on the Najavo and Hopi reservations threatens to devastate the Navajo people unless they can get outside help.

The rise in cases is partly linked to a lack of running water in a number of Navajo homes.

Around 40% of Navajo homes lack proper running water and part of the GoFundMe campaign is going toward bottled water.

Food, including fresh fruit and bread, is also being sent to the Navajo people as part of the campaign and more than 250 food packages were delivered to Hopi Village on May 3.

Vanessa Tulley, who helped set up the GoFundMe, said that a significant amount of recent donations were inspired by the Choctaw generosity during the Famine.

"173 years later, the favor is returned through generous donations from the Irish people to the Navajo Nation during our time of crisis," Tulley wrote on the GoFundMe campaign.

She thanked Irish people for their generosity.

"In moments like these, we are so grateful for the love and support we have received from all around the world.

"Acts of kindness from indigenous ancestors passed being reciprocated nearly 200 years later through blood memory and interconnectedness. Thank you, IRELAND, for showing solidarity and being here for us."

Irishman Pat Hayes, who donated to the relief fund, said: "From Ireland, 170 years later, the favor is returned! To our Native American brothers and sisters in your moment of hardship."

Read More: Great similarities between experiences of the Irish and Native Americans\
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[Ladybbird]

WATCH: Navajo Nation Attorney General Issues Heartfelt Thanks for Irish Donations

Doreen McPaul, the Attorney General for the Navajo Nation, says she's proud of the Irish outpouring of support during the coronavirus crisis in part because of her Irish roots.

Irish Central, 19 MAY 2020





On Monday, May 11, the Navajo Nation had reported 3,204 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 102 deaths. Those figures indicate that the Navajo Nation, the most populous of the Native American reservations in the US, now has more COVID-19 cases per capita than any other state.

As the Navajo Nation struggles to cope with the pandemic, there has been a staggering outpouring of support from Irish people and people of Irish descent sending donations to the Native American reservation. The donations are inspired by the donation that the Choctaw Nation sent to Ireland in 1847 at the height of The Great Famine.

On May 10, Navajo Nation Attorney General Doreen McPaul, who serves as the Donation Branch Chief of the Navajo Nation’s Health Command Center, filmed a special message of thanks to the Irish for their efforts in 'paying back' the 172-year-old favor.

In her video, McPaul says she is “especially proud of this response because of my own Irish heritage.” Both of her grandfathers are Irish, and her father, who was raised on the Navajo reservation, is a dual citizen of Ireland and the US.

“Our Irish family roots are in both Co Armagh and Co Laois,” McPaul says, “and the Hobsons in Ireland of Quaker stock were deeply committed to Irish culture through the GAA and the Gaelic League.”

McPaul’s sister, who studied in Ireland for a period, even married an Irish man, Co Clare native Jason Ryan. The couple's four children, Liam, Aidan, Padraig, and Saoirse, are enrolled members of the Navajo Nation.

“We are very proud of dual heritage,” McPaul says.

Noting that Ireland the Navajo Nation are roughly the same size of 27,000 square miles, McPaul adds: “There are many similarities between our cultures, including our love of the land, our language, our songs, our dance, our sports, our people, and our history. Many parts of Ireland are actually very similar to the Navajo reservation with the vast farmlands and the herds of sheep and cattle. Just as the Irish use sheep wool to make textiles, so do the Navajo.

“We also have a shared history of oppression. During the Irish Famine, when the Choctaw Nation sent money to the Irish despite their own struggle, that gesture has become a symbol of paying it forward, and the Irish are paying it forward to the Navajo Nation.

“I just want to say thank you for the Irish support and for the donations to the Nation. I also want to thank the Irish Cultural Center of Arizona, and the US - Irish Consulate, for their continued support and for helping spread the word about the Navajo Nation’s COVID-19 relief effort at Navajo.fund.

“My hope is that the Navajo Nation will be able to pay it forward in honor of Ireland someday.”

The disadvantages of the Navajo Nation during a pandemic

Speaking with RTE Radio’s Morning Ireland program on May 12, McPaul discussed the disadvantages that the Navajo Nation, which spans three states in the US, is facing.

“Because we are remote, and we have issues with infrastructure and water, and multiple generational families living in the same homes, we have people who have high prevalence of disease, and diabetes, and cancer, and things that are not good for the virus,” McPaul said.

“There are many households that lack water, electricity. With the current pandemic and people having to stay home to work from home, to do school from home, to do telemedicine from home, we don’t have the broadband capacity for people to maintain their normal lives from home if they don’t have electricity and power or water to wash their hands for 20 seconds at a time.”

McPaul also highlighted the challenge of social distancing in the Navajo Nation: “It’s not really part of our culture, we are very social beings and communal beings. We take care of not just our families in our household, but our extended families in our communities, and the Nation at large.

“Separating somebody if you live in small quarters, it just isn’t feasible. And not having access to the necessary cleaning supplies to keep a home disinfected is a challenge for some of our communities. And then just not having the access to water to keep your hands clean is problematic as well.”

McPaul thanked supporters for donating to the Navajo Relief Fund, which had raised nearly $320k as of Tuesday evening, with many donations coming from Irish people or people of Irish descent. (A separate GoFundMe to support Navajo and Hopi families, which has also witnessed a massive amount of donations from Irish people, has raised more than $3.5 million as of Tuesday evening.)

“It’s beyond amazing, the outpouring of support has been heartwarming,” McPaul said. “It almost brings me to tears just to think about it.”




Read More: Choctaw Native American leads Tipperary famine walk, compares to “Trail of Tears”
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