You Will Shoot Your Eye Out

In a small Irish town sits a stainless steel reminder of that country’s historic link to Oklahoma and the Choctaw Nation. Nine handmade feathers curve up from a concrete foundation, symbolizing the shape of an empty bowl.

The feathers, meant to represent the Choctaw Nation’s strength, kindness and humanity, are delicate and give off a metallic luster when illuminated by the sun.

The sculpture stands 20 feet tall near a popular walking path in Bailic Park in Midleton, a town of about 12,000 on Ireland’s southern coast. The work, named “Kindred Spirits,” is meant to symbolize the shared history between the Choctaw Nation and the Irish, which began with a $170 donation.

Though an ocean away, a mutual feeling of oppression united the tribe with the Irish. In 1847, the Choctaw Nation scraped together $170, about $5,000 today, to send to the starving poor in Ireland.