Name? Gary Batton
Westphalian identity? Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Age? 53
Why is he in the news? As the current chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Batton has been one of many Native Americans to receive extensive donations towards clean water, food and medical supplies from the people of Ireland.
Why do we care? Honestly, it was nice to read a bit of good news and restore some faith in humanity. Unfortunately, the news is bittersweet as it highlights further discrepancies in who is most impacted by the current crisis and how little governments seem to pay attention to such groups.
Why should you care? Because the Navajo Nation, comprising about 175000 people, has seen more Covid19 cases than nine states. And yet, they receive little to no government or media attention.
Who else cares? The U.S. government and some state governments should, considering that these people are also their citizens, their constituents. However, the only acknowledgement of their suffering by the President was in his attempt to take credit for the funding Native Americans have received from the U.S. government (of which he had very little involvement in) in a round table discussion in Arizona. In other words, the average Irish citizen cares more about the wellbeing of Native Americans than their actual government.
Any further comments? Why the Irish you ask? Why do they care? Well, they’re kind of returning a favour….over 170 years ago, many Native American tribes came together to send funds to Irish farmers during the Great Potato Famine. And if you know anything about American history, you will recognize that this was right after these nations had been forced to walk the Trail of Tears. Yup, in some of their most difficult times physically and financially, they supported the Irish. And now, centuries later, the Irish have fundraised over $2 million dollars to assist those who once aided them; continuing especially strong relations between the two nations through communication and real empathy. The Trump administration (among many) should take note: diplomacy can be based on friendship, not just fear and finance.
