Famine Pots - The Choctaw/Irish Gift Exchange

Join us in welcoming authors LeAnne Howe and Padraig Kirwan as they discuss thier new book called Famine Pots: The Choctaw-Irish Gift Exchange, 1847-Present.

The remarkable story of the money sent by the Choctaw to the Irish in 1847 is one that is often told and remembered by people in both nations. This gift was sent to the Irish from the Choctaw at the height of the potato famine in Ireland, just sixteen years after the Choctaw began their march on the Trail of Tears toward the areas west of the Mississippi River. Famine Pots honors that extraordinary gift and provides further context about and consideration of this powerful symbol of cross-cultural synergy through a collection of essays and poems that speak volumes of the empathy and connectivity between the two communities. As well as signaling patterns of movement and exchange, this study of the gift exchange invites reflection on processes of cultural formation within Choctaw and Irish society alike, and sheds light on longtime concerns surrounding spiritual and social identities. This volume aims to facilitate a fuller understanding of the historical complexities that surrounded migration and movement in the colonial world, which in turn will help lead to a more constructive consideration of the ways in which Irish and Native American Studies might be drawn together today.

LEEANNE HOWE, born and raised in Oklahoma, is an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation. Howe is the Eidson Distinguished Professor in American Literature at the University of Georgia.

PADRAIG KIRWAN is Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London.

This program is kindly sponsored by the Friends of the Milton Public Library and is free and open to all.  The lecture will be held via Zoom and advance registration is required. A Zoom connection link will be Emailed to you on the day of the program.