Credit: Navajo and Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund

Irish donors are repaying a 173-year-old favor to the Navajo and Hopi tribes.

In 1847, Ireland was suffering from the Great Famine, a time of mass starvation affecting the entire nation. In an act of charity, the Choctaw Nation of Native Americans in Oklahoma sent the nation a gift of $173, which would be equal to approximately $3,147.74 at current rates. 173 years later, multiple Native American tribes have been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 2,700 cases and 70 deaths reported in the Navajo Nation alone. In these tumultuous times, Ireland decided it was time to return the favor.

A group of charitable Irish folks set up a GoFundMe campaign to send money to the Navajo and Hopi tribes as a return of good will for Choctaw Nation’s actions in 1847. As of writing, the campaign has successfully raised over $2,592,900.

Credit: Ognyan Yosifov/Alamy

“I saw that Irish people were starting to donate and share the story of Choctaw Nation and the historical symmetry really affected me,” said Tipperary, Ireland native Paul Hayes. “Sending the actual amount of $170 personally after 170 or so years felt like the right tribute across the ages.”

“An overdue debt repaid on behalf of our ancestors to your ancestors. Stay strong,” an anonymous donor wrote.

“I am currently unemployed so I’m sorry that my donation is not more, but I hope that this little contribution will make some positive difference in the same way those donations 173 years ago were sent with the same hope for ancestors of mine,” another anonymous donor wrote. “I stand in solidarity with my Native American brothers and sisters during this time of crisis and send this message with love, respect and hope for the future.”

Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton spoke thankfully and proudly of the campaign’s generous work. “We are gratified, and perhaps not at all surprised, to learn of the assistance our special friends, the Irish, are giving to the Navajo and Hopi nations. Our word for their selfless act is ‘iyyikowa’ — it means serving those in need,” Batton said in an email. “We have become kindred spirits with the Irish in the years since the Irish Potato Famine. We hope the Irish, Navajo and Hopi peoples develop lasting friendships, as we have. Sharing our cultures makes the world grow smaller.”