Choctaw, the Irish Potato Famine, and Covid-19

I seem to be following a genealogical theme recently in my blog, which I shall continue today.  The Beams family is descended from the Native American Choctaw Tribe.  We are of mixed British and Native American heritage.  More specifically and most probably Irish, Choctaw, and Cherokee.  My dad is about 10% Native American, making me about 5% Native American--not much genetically and even less culturally.  My Great grandfather Edmond Gardner Beams was born in the Oklahoma territory and was on the original Choctaw membership role established, I believe, in 1907, about the time of Oklahoma statehood.  He was an Indian agent (I'm not sure what this means). My Grandfather, Elwyn Edmond Beams, was born on the reservation in Oklahoma in 1917.  When his father died in 1918, his mother left the reservation and moved to North Texas where she remarried a white man and settled into non-reservation life.  My grandfather did not grow up in the Native American culture, but he maintained his status in the Choctaw Tribe.  We have remained on the Choctaw roles through my father, myself, and even my daughter, Natalie, who went to Fort Lewis College in Colorado for a year on a Native American scholarship. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/world/coronavirus-ireland-native-american-tribes.html?searchResultPosition=1

As is detailed in this New York Times article, the Choctaw were "removed" from Mississippi in 1832 and marched on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma and Arkansas where they were given new reservation land.  It is well documented that many 1000s died during the march to the new territory.  As is discussed in the NYT article, the Choctaw sent $170 to Ireland in 1847 to help with the Potato famine that killed an estimated one million residents of Ireland.  There is even a statue in Cork county commemorating the generous gift.  Now, during the Covid-19 crisis, the Irish are returning the favor.  They have raised 1.8 million dollars that they are donating to 2 U.S. Native American tribes, the Navajo and the Hopi, who have been hardest hit by the pandemic.  So it looks like "paying it forward" pays dividends sometimes even centuries after the good deed.  If we will all put our neighbors before ourselves, I'm sure we can come out of this crisis healthy and stronger than before.