Donations flood in from Ireland to Navajo Nation in repayment of centuries-old bond

A relationship between Native Americans and Ireland that dates back nearly two centuries has been revived once again during a time of desperate need. A GoFundMe page for Navajo and Hopi families devastated by the coronavirus has raised over $3.1 million as of Friday morning, in no small part because of the hundreds of donations coming from names like O'Neill, Hanrahan, O'Leary and Munro. At least 20,000 donations totaling $670,000 had come in from Ireland by Wednesday morning, a GoFundMe representative told the Navajo and Hopi organizers. The outpouring of support from the Irish was staggering, accounting for nearly 20% of the $3.1 million total raised and about a third of the total donations. The relationship began in the 1840s, when the Choctaw Nation raised money for Ireland during the Great Famine. Nearly 175 years later, the Irish are reaching out to the Native American community to repay the good deed. "At Ireland's time of need during the Great Hunger of the 1840s, Native American people donated to the famine relief effort even though they themselves were still living in hardship. Their generosity will never be forgotten," Dermot Burke wrote on the GoFundMe page on May 3, along with a $30 donation to the Navajo and Hopi relief efforts. "When Ireland was in need you understood what Solidarity really looked like," read a message from Alan Hopkins, who gave $20...MORE