Hundreds of people at Bailick Park in Midleton to attend the dedication of the monument to the Choctaw Nation.
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.
Chief Gary Batton told of the similarities between the two people as a special feather sculpture was unveiled in Bailick Park, Midleton, Co Cork. The ‘Kindred Spirits’ sculpture commemorates a donation made by the Choctaw people to Ireland during the great famine.
Chief Gary Batton said he became emotional when he saw the sculpture.
“The people in Ireland know how to get a gathering together. It is hard for me to express what a great honour this is this tribute to our Choctaw ancestors. I can’t tell you the feelings it gives to me to see it in person.
“We know the story of the tragedy of all our people that we endured and over came. But we knew once we heard of the story of hardship of the Irish people we knew it was our time to step up and help out. We have endured — the Choctaw people and the people of Ireland.”
Meanwhile, the Mayor of Co Cork, Cllr Seamus McGrath said the Irish people were very grateful for the “kindness of strangers” during the great famine.
“To think they heard about the hardship that the Irish people were enduring during the great famine and they made whatever effort they could to help out. It is an extraordinary story. It is only right that we in Cork would mark that and that there would be a tribute to that act of generosity.”
Close to 20 representatives from the Choctaw Nation from Oklahoma attended the public ceremony. It included traditional Choctaw and Irish music and dancing, as well as activities around the sculpture and the story.
‘Kindred Spirits’, by Cork based sculptor Alex Pentek, was commissioned in 2013 by the former Midleton Town Council to commemorate the time in 1847, when the kind people of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma heard of the suffering of the starving Irish. They responded, with greatness of spirit and generosity, by contributing a sum of $170 dollars (about $4,400 today), to send food aid to Ireland. This show of solidarity came despite the great hardships being faced by the Choctaw people themselves who were also living in conditions of starvation and poverty, and who had just a few years previous endured the Trail of Tears.
The sculpture comprising of nine, majestic 20 foot eagle feathers reaching towards the sky in the East Cork town, arranged in a circular shape, represents a bowl filled with food, presented to those suffering hunger, metaphorically speaking.
This is not the first time the Choctaw Nation has been honoured in Ireland. In 1990, Choctaw leaders travelled to Mayo to take part in a re-enactment of an 1848 protest. The gesture was returned in 1992, when Irish leaders took part in a trek. Former President Mary Robinson also has been named an honorary Choctaw chief.
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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.
Chief Gary Batton told of the similarities between the two people as a special feather sculpture was unveiled in Bailick Park, Midleton, Co Cork. The ‘Kindred Spirits’ sculpture commemorates a donation made by the Choctaw people to Ireland during the great famine.
Chief Gary Batton said he became emotional when he saw the sculpture.
“The people in Ireland know how to get a gathering together. It is hard for me to express what a great honour this is this tribute to our Choctaw ancestors. I can’t tell you the feelings it gives to me to see it in person.
“We know the story of the tragedy of all our people that we endured and over came. But we knew once we heard of the story of hardship of the Irish people we knew it was our time to step up and help out. We have endured — the Choctaw people and the people of Ireland.”
Meanwhile, the Mayor of Co Cork, Cllr Seamus McGrath said the Irish people were very grateful for the “kindness of strangers” during the great famine.
“To think they heard about the hardship that the Irish people were enduring during the great famine and they made whatever effort they could to help out. It is an extraordinary story. It is only right that we in Cork would mark that and that there would be a tribute to that act of generosity.”
Close to 20 representatives from the Choctaw Nation from Oklahoma attended the public ceremony. It included traditional Choctaw and Irish music and dancing, as well as activities around the sculpture and the story.
‘Kindred Spirits’, by Cork based sculptor Alex Pentek, was commissioned in 2013 by the former Midleton Town Council to commemorate the time in 1847, when the kind people of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma heard of the suffering of the starving Irish. They responded, with greatness of spirit and generosity, by contributing a sum of $170 dollars (about $4,400 today), to send food aid to Ireland. This show of solidarity came despite the great hardships being faced by the Choctaw people themselves who were also living in conditions of starvation and poverty, and who had just a few years previous endured the Trail of Tears.
The sculpture comprising of nine, majestic 20 foot eagle feathers reaching towards the sky in the East Cork town, arranged in a circular shape, represents a bowl filled with food, presented to those suffering hunger, metaphorically speaking.
This is not the first time the Choctaw Nation has been honoured in Ireland. In 1990, Choctaw leaders travelled to Mayo to take part in a re-enactment of an 1848 protest. The gesture was returned in 1992, when Irish leaders took part in a trek. Former President Mary Robinson also has been named an honorary Choctaw chief.
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I never knew about the Choctaw Nation aiding the Irish during this time of starvation at the hands of the English. I'm so overwhelmed to learn this, and so thankful for the help.
I am part Irish, Mississippi Choctaw, Kentucky Cherokee and Apache. We have known this story all of our lives. My hope is to see this sculpture in person one day. Aho! Wado!
I am Dine from Arizona. I heard of this story years ago and would love to visit this sculpture in person one day. Proud of my Choctaw brothers' and sisters' act of kindness. Nizhoni
Chahta sia hoke/I am Choctaw! I am proud of my people. And I am grateful for our Irish brothers and sisters.
A beautiful story. I have heard it often told. Love and respect to the Choctaw nation. Dublin Ireland.
HOW WONDERFUL IT IS THAT OUR CREATOR IS BRINGING FORTH UNITY WITH OTHER TRIBE'S AND CULTURES THAT ARE HAVE BEEN SUFFING FOR SO LONG THIS IS WHAT I TEACH AND SAY ON MY FACE BOOK PAGE REACH OUT TO ONE ANOTHER STOP THE HATE CONCERNING HISTORY AND WHAT TOOK PLACE TEACH YOUR CHILD TO RESPECT OTHER'S IN THIS NOW PRESENT WORLD NOT GOING TO GET EASY IT WILL GET BAD BUT TEACH THEM TO LOVE AND OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS OF CREATOR(GOD) PLANT GIVE REACH OUT WORSHIP JESUS TOGETHER .AHO
In 2015, when I first learned about this statue, I tracked down the artist to thank him. He was super nice in his response, which included this statement:
"It has been both an honor and a challenge to represent this history that one one hand tells a story of unimaginable suffering of both our nations, and also of the the tenderness and kindness of the Choctaw nation. Middleton town clerk Joe McCarthy said to me that this act of charity was of national and international importance, where politics were brushed aside for a humanitarian cause by the Choctaw, and that this was the beginning of a new era of higher international human consciousness..."
A wonderful tribute to the great Choctaw people. So beautiful & meaningful.
More respect from the Irish than the US towards Indians, just saying.