It was a tale of an extremely familiar heartache that forced one oppressed nation to help another.

The Taoiseach is to travel to Oklahoma to thank the Choctaw nation for providing relief to Ireland during the Great Famine, more than 170 years after members of the nation of Native Americans donated to those starving 7,000km away here.

The Irish people and the Native American Choctaw nation are bonded by the difficulties they have endured in their respective cultures and the resilience they have shown to overcome hardships, the Chief of the Choctaw Nation told a gathering in Co Cork yesterday.

The chief of an Native American nation and a number of his people will be special guests at the official unveiling of a magnificent eagle feather sculpture which commemorates the generosity of his forebears to the Irish during the Great Famine.