Covid-19: The Irish and Native Americans

First, a poem, by Irish poet and Stanford University professor Eavan Boland, who died of a stroke while in quarantine in Ireland on April 27. It is about the Irish potato famine of 1847.

Quarantine

In the worst hour of the worst season
 of the worst year of a whole people
a man set out from the workhouse with his wife.
He was walking—they were both walking—north.

She was sick with famine fever and could not keep up.
 He lifted her and put her on his back.
He walked like that west and west and north.
Until at nightfall under freezing stars they arrived.

In the morning they were both found dead.
 Of cold. Of hunger. Of the toxins of a whole history.
But her feet were held against his breastbone.
The last heat of his flesh was his last gift to her.

Let no love poem ever come to this threshold.
 There is no place here for the inexact
praise of the easy graces and sensuality of the body.
There is only time for this merciless inventory:

Their death together in the winter of 1847.
 Also what they suffered. How they lived.
And what there is between a man and woman.
And in which darkness it can best be proved.

Kindred Spirits (Choctaw Monument)
in Midleton, Ireland

The reason I am bringing up the Irish famine is this: In 1847, not so very long after their 1831–33 uprooting on the Trail of Tears, the Choctaw Nation sent $170 to Ireland (that would be almost $5,500 today) to help starving families during the potato famine. Since then, the two nations have continued to build ties. And recently, that relationship has been tapped into again (in an extended fashion) via a GoFundMe drive called "Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund," where as of today $2,319,730 has been raised, with Irish people responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations—in solidarity and in thanks for that help long ago. The money is being used to supply clean water, food, and health supplies to Native people in need.

Native Americans are being particularly hard hit by the coronavirus. "Navajo Nation,"AlJazeera reports, "had at least 2,530 confirmed coronavirus cases and 73 known deaths as of Tuesday [today], according to the Navajo Epidemiology Center. The Navajo Nation has the third-highest infection rate per capita of any region of the US."

This virus goes after the most vulnerable, that we know. It made my heart glad to see this story of longtime connection, trust, and support. Reading the notes on the GoFundMe website by all the Irish donors—like this, posted by Liam Ó Riain: "From the Choctaw Nation to the Irish Nation paid forward to the Navajo Nation. Kindred spirits across the sea. Tiocfaidh bhur lá [Your day will come]"—brings tears to my eyes. I am so glad to know that some people do care.

I know: a lot of people care. Probably most do. It's too easy to be sidetracked by the selfish fools.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monterey's numbers are up 4, to 241; deaths still at 6. (And were you paying attention to the numbers up there? Confirmed cases in Navajo Nation, 2,530; deaths, 73—in a population of some 350,000. Monterey County's population is 430,000. Think about it.)

Stay inside. Find some people who could use your help, and then help them. Stay healthy.

P.S. As I was about to toddle off to bed, I decided to follow my own advice and give to the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund. It now stands at $2,409,720. Almost $90,000 in just a few hours. Yay generosity! (It no doubt helps that this story was also generously covered in the media. Which: good. It should be. It's a lovely story.)