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The 'Kindred Spirits'
sculpture consists of nine stainless steel feathers and towers
20 feet in the air in Midleton, County Cork. The feathers,
which form the shape of an empty bowl, commemorate a donation
made by the Choctaw Nation to the starving Irish during the
1847 Great Famine. (Photo courtesy of Midleton Town Council)
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The $170 donated by Choctaw leaders in 1847 or "Black '47,"
as the Irish who survived the rampant starvation, disease and exposure
remembered it would today have amounted to over $5,000, historians
estimate.
At that time, the Choctaw were still grappling with their own grief
and loss, caused by the abuses of a colonial government a decade
earlier, and they appear to have seen their own suffering reflected
in a people over 4,000 miles away.
The donation has since inspired three visits between heads of state
in both nations, the construction of an iconic stainless steel sculpture
in Ireland's County Cork, a poetry collaboration between Choctaw
author LeAnne Howe and Irish poet Doireann Ní Ghríofa,
dance performances of welcome, music that aspires to merge Irish
"trad" with Indigenous rhythms and a scholarship.
The Choctaw-Ireland Scholarship Programme, announced by Taoiseach
(pronounced "TEE-shock") Leo Varadkar during a 2018 St. Patrick's
Day visit, offers Choctaw scholars full tuition and more than $10,000
in living expenses for a graduate degree at University College Cork.
Jessica Militante became the first recipient last May, and she
now acts as an ambassador between cultures, studying creative writing
at UCC. She has visited the Kindred Spirits sculpture in Midleton
with friends or family twice, joined UCC President Patrick G. O'Shea
for afternoon tea and encountered a wealth of poetry events, short
story festivals and open-mic pub readings for creative writing across
Cork.
"This has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life,"
she said, "Having this opportunity to come to Cork and really get
to study something that I love, and also kind of bring a little
bit of awareness, even more so, to the connection between the Choctaws
and the people of Cork, is something that I never even dreamed about."
Her favorite part of the experience, however, has been the classes
she's taken. Her writing thrives off receiving different feedback.
Militante, who hopes to publish a young-adult novel, finds inspiration
in authors like Lorrie Moore and young adult fiction author Rainbow
Rowell.
"I think a huge part of stories is being able to empathize with
these characters and understand more about situations that you haven't
encountered yourself," she said. "It's definitely the idea of solidarity,
and being able to look into other cultures and see yourself, and
being able to identify when people are in need of that help that
you could provide."
Choctaw graduates hoping to apply for next year's scholarship have
until March 31 to apply for UCC, a process that the scholarship
directors estimate should take about one hour to complete. Step-by-step
instructions for the application process can be found in the video
clip on the Chahta Foundation webpage. The Chahta Foundation, based
in Oklahoma, is the Choctaw-led non-profit that coordinates the
scholarship.
Applicants must complete the second part of the process, which
is for the scholarship specifically, by April 15. At that stage
the Chahta Foundation would consider applicants comparatively, relying
on the submitted resumes and personal statements to make final decisions.
It will announce that decision in May.
"We always encourage applicants to spend some time on that personal
statement," said Seth Fairchild, who serves as executive director
for the foundation. "There's so many smart, talented students out
there that will be applying for this, as well as our other scholarships,
so we just tell them show your personality in that personal statement,
show your commitment to the tribe, what it means to be Choctaw,
and really let that individuality sort of shine through there."
The scholarship committee, led by Choctaw members as well as a
group from Ireland, is just looking for people it believes will
be successful and great representatives for both University College
Cork and the Choctaw Nation, Fairchild told Indian Country Today.
So far the scholarship is doing its part to ensure that the story
of the Choctaw Famine donation reaches new audiences and continues
to grow a legacy, inspiring donations and independent family scholarships
from Irish people and people of Irish descent. Fairchild credits
the 2015 Kindred Spirits sculpture, a 20-foot-tall assembly of nine
magnificent feathers that together form the shape of an empty bowl,
with spurring renewed interest over the last few years.
Fairchild had grown up hearing the story himself by word of mouth.
"I think it is a way that we remember who we are as a people," he
said. "We are a people who want to come together, we want to help
and display that Chahta spirit, so I think it's remembered as a
legacy that our ancestors handed down to us as the type of people
that we need to be."
Chris Kopacz, Pascua Yaqui, is an Indian Country Today contributor
based in Phoenix, Arizona.
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