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 honours 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 signalling 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 long-time 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.

LeAnne Howe is the Eidson Distinguished Professor of American Literature in English at the University of Georgia. Padraig Kirwan is Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, Goldsmiths, University of London

The chapter on “Recognition, Resilience, and Relief: The Meaning of Gift” by Padraig Kirwan, has been awarded the 2021 Shelley Fisher Fishkin Prize for International Scholarship in Transnational American Studies.

https://www.theasa.net/awards/committee-caucus-awards-prizes/shelley-fisher-fishkin-prize