A rug, a memory, a Nation: Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund honors Irish friendship

By Krista Allen | Jul 17, 2025 | News |

PAGE, Ariz.

What began as a tweet and a shared memory has grown into an international friendship built on mutual struggle, compassion and Indigenous solidarity.

Submitted | Yee Ha’ólníi Doo
A Navajo rug woven by Florence Riggs of Tuba City honors the enduring relationship between the Choctaw Nation, the Irish, and Indigenous communities. The textile illustrates acts of solidarity during Ireland’s Great Famine in 1847 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with the center panel depicting the iconic Kindred Spirits monument in Cork, Ireland.

Leaders of the Yee Ha’ólníi Doo DBA Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund have been in Ireland since July 8 to honor that connection on a global stage.

The relief fund was invited to take part in the 2025 World Peace Gathering, a 10-day convening at Dripsey Castle in County Cork. The international event, organized by Kindred Spirits Ireland, brings together Indigenous leaders, spiritual guides, artists, and peacebuilders for dialogue, storytelling, and ceremony.

Submitted | Yee Ha’ólníi Doo
Joan Henry of the Choctaw Nation embraces Mary Francis of the Yee Ha’ólníi Doo DBA Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund during an emotional moment of remembrance and unity in County Cork, Ireland.

Representing the organization are Board Chair Ethel Branch, Interim Executive Director Mary Francis and Board Treasurer Vanessa Tullie. During the gathering, the delegation presented a traditional cultural gift – a Navajo rug by weaver Florence Riggs – honoring a bond that spans centuries and oceans, linking the Choctaw Nation, the Irish people, and the Navajo and Hopi nations.

Cassandra Begay, the deputy director and co-founder of the relief fund, said the gift represented far more than a gesture of thanks. It was an act of cultural survival and a tribute to the spirit of mutual aid that has spanned generations and continents.

“As Indigenous people, we have endured generations of genocide, displacement, and forced assimilation since the first waves of colonial contact,” Begay said. “Yet through it all, art, community, and acts of kindness have remained powerful forms of cultural expression – ways we carry our history, heal together, and ensure our survival.”

Submitted | Yee Ha’ólníi Doo
Members of Kindred Spirits Ireland gather with Indigenous delegates during a cultural exchange on July 11, 2025, honoring shared histories of resilience and solidarity. The gathering took place in County Cork, Ireland, as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen Indigenous-to-Indigenous relations and commemorate the Choctaw Nation’s historic 1847 famine aid to the Irish people.

She described the rug as a tribute to the Choctaw Nation’s 1847 gift to Ireland during the Great Hunger – and to the Irish people who, more than 170 years later, responded with generosity during the COVID-19 pandemic to support Native communities in crisis.

“Their generosity helped us protect lives, safeguard our communities, and carry forward the light of those we lost,” she said. “We created this offering not only to say thank you, but to pass this story on to our children and future generations, so they too may know the strength of kinship across oceans.”

Begay said she hopes the gift deepens the friendship between Indigenous and Irish communities and inspires similar bonds across nations.

To read the full article, please see the July 17, 2025, edition of the Navajo Times.

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