Choctaw leader speaks of unique Famine bond
Internationally renowned painter, tribal chanter and dance leader, Gary White Deer, was speaking in west Cork as preparations continued for this weekend’s inaugural provincial National Famine Commemoration.
Dressed in a traditional colourful Choctaw costume, Gary told an audience in Skibbereen that his tribe became aware of the Great Famine when a US government agent read an appeal letter on March 23, 1847.
Just 16 years before, the Choctaw had been driven by American soldiers from their ancestral homes around Mississippi, and forced to march 800km west through snow.
Thousands died from exposure and starvation on the Choctaw’s “trail of tears and starvation”.
Upon learning of the Irish Famine, Gary said his ancestors “heard an echo of their own suffering and decided to donate money to ease the suffering in a land they had never seen”.
They donated $179 – the equivalent of more than €68,500 today.
Gary, who has visited Ireland over a dozen times, spoke to local schoolchildren during a visit to Skibbereen Heritage Centre.
He also visited the mass Famine graveyard outside the town where an estimated 10,000 are buried. “The chill of the Great Famine can still be felt here today, if you want to feel it,” he said
* Details are available from www.skibbheritage.com or www.skibbereen.ie
