Quinnipiac to Host Seminar, Exhibition Highlighting Aid to Ireland

Photo Caption: This striking image is a modern representation of Chief Kahkewāquonāby, also known as Sacred Feathers or Peter Jones. It is by artist Philip Cote and it also includes Irish symbols. Kahkewāquonāby was born in a wigwam in Upper Canada in 1802. Until aged 14, he was raised by his mother, Tuhbenahneequay, in the traditions and religion of the Mississauga Ojibwas. After that, he lived with his father, August Jones, a Welsh-born Empire Loyalist. Kahkewāquonāby visited Britain and Ireland in 1838. While there, he presented Queen Victoria with a petition, tied with wampum, asking that his people be allowed to remain on their homelands. In 1846, he visited Britain for the final time. Shortly after returning to Canada, Kahkewāquonāby was called on to aid the starving Irish. In a hand-written letter, dated 22 March 1847, he promised to donate £12 10s. He explained that he wished it was larger, ‘but we regret to inform you that our people here are in a very destitute state arising from their not having raised any quantity of produce during last summer’. Kahkewāquonāby died in June 1856 following a prolonged illness. In 1857, a monument was unveiled at New Credit, inscribed ‘Erected by the Ojibeway and other Indian tribes to their revered and beloved Chief Kahkewāquonāby (the Rev. Peter Jones)’.

HAMDEN, Conn. – Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University is pleased to announce a special seminar marking the opening of a new exhibition, “Indigenous Aid to Ireland during the Great Hunger.”

Curated by Christine Kinealy, Ph.D., director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute and professor of history at Quinnipiac and Jason King, Ph.D., of the Irish Heritage Trust in Dublin, this exhibition and seminar will pay tribute to the Indigenous Peoples of America and Canada who contributed to Irish Famine relief in 1847.

The exhibition explores the remarkable generosity of the Choctaws and Cherokees, who themselves had endured forced displacement only years earlier, as well as the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Huron-Wendat Indigenous Peoples in Canada West, whose donations came at a time of increasing settler encroachment and broken treaties.

Newly discovered archival records reveal the detailed decision-making processes of Indigenous chiefs as they extended aid to famine-stricken Ireland.

Seminar Program
Tuesday, March 25| 11a.m. g to 2 p.m.Arnold Bernhard Library, Quinnipiac University, 275 Mount Carmel Ave.

Robert Young, public services librarian at Quinnipiac, will chair a panel of experts that includes:

• Kiara M. Tanta-Quidgeon, member of the Mohegan Tribe and Quinnipiac University alumnus – “Increasing Indigenous Representation at Quinnipiac University: Reflections of an Irish/Indigenous Woman”
• Christina Dickerson, assistant professor of history, Quinnipiac University – “The Five Tribes and the Trail of Tears”
• Christine Kinealy, professor of history, Quinnipiac University – “The Kindness of Strangers: Donations to Ireland During the Great Hunger”
• Jason King, Irish Heritage Trust – “Honoring Indigenous Aid for Famine-Stricken Ireland from Canada, 1847”
• Catherine Conway, Ireland Lacrosse – “Ties of Friendship and the Gift of the Wampum Belt”
• Daniel Leeman Smith, Citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, New York University – “Echoes of Generosity: The Choctaw-Irish Bond and Its Lasting Legacy”

Sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences' Hawley Platt Fund for Excellence in Historical Studies and Ethics, the event is free and open to the public and will feature light refreshments and guided tours of the exhibition at designated times.

Exhibition Details
“The Indigenous Aid to Ireland during the Great Hunger” exhibition will be held in the Lender Room of the Arnold Bernhard Library and is free and open to the public. The exhibition includes:

• Original government reports outlining treaty agreements from the 1830s
• Historic maps of Ireland and the Trail of Tears
• A sculpture honoring the Choctaw gift
• Artwork by Philip Cote
• A Wampum Belt, presented by the Haudenosaunee Nationals (formerly Iroquois Nationals) to Ireland Lacrosse in 2022, symbolizing the ongoing Circle of Giving

RSVP and Contact Information
Those interested in attending the seminar are encouraged to contact Kinealy at Christine.Kinealy@qu.edu.

This event offers a rare opportunity to reflect on a profound moment of historical solidarity and generosity between Indigenous communities and the Irish people, ensuring that these acts of kindness continue to be honored and remembered.