Maeve Kiley
The Pains of Hunger
Starvation is an echoed pain across human history. A poisoned cup slowly drank across generations. Suffering can be circumstantial or cruelly inflicted as a means of warfare. According to a 2023 study by the United Nations, over 846 million people around the globe experience severe food insecurity. The highest concentrations of extreme hunger vary per region, with continents such as Africa and Asia experiencing higher levels of hunger than others.
Historically, hunger is no stranger. Great famines serve as tragic watersheds in global history, with infamous famines such as the Bengal Famine of 1943, the Chalisa Famine, the Holodomor Famine, the Soviet Famine of 1932-1933, and countless others claiming the lives of billions of innocents. What many do not know is that great, historic famines are commonly man-made atrocities. The Holodomor Famine was orchestrated by the Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin, to punish the Ukrainian people for rebellion. The Bengal Famine of 1943 was caused by the British government preventing Bengal from building food stocks during the war, resulting in the death of at least 3 million people. Many governments have historically prevented others from receiving proper nourishment due to a combination of factors that mostly revolve around two things: money and bigotry.
Historically, the British government has been among the worst culprits. Many countries that broke free of British control experienced horrific suffering beforehand. Due to revisionist history and whitewashing textbooks, many of these atrocities fly under the radar. One of the most significant grievances against historical truth is the rampant misinformation circling Irish history and how the British were able to maintain rigid control over it for hundreds of years.
An Gorta Mór
From 1845 to 1852, Ireland experienced one of the most infamous and devastating famines ever. With a horrifying estimated death toll of 1 million people, it permanently altered Ireland with 10-20 percent of the population deceased and an additional 25 percent forced to emigrate on what were known as ‘Coffin Ships.’ Around 20-50 percent of all passengers on their floating death traps died from cramped, dirty, and diseased-ridden conditions.
The Irish named this tragedy “An Gorta Mór,” meaning “The Great Hunger.” However, in most history books, it is called “The Irish Potato Famine.” Truthfully, the title ‘famine’ is misleading. The word implies that tragic events are circumstantial, such as the volcanic eruption at Pompeii or the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. But the Great Irish Hunger was not coincidental; it was orchestrated.
Starvation by Design
One of the United Nations' qualifications for an act to be considered part of a “genocide” is “deliberately inflicting ghoulish conditions of life that lead to the group’s physical destruction.” In the case of the Great Irish Hunger, these conditions were called ‘Corn Laws.’
British Corn Laws are a significant part of Western history that has been unjustly ignored and erased from textbooks. They were an aggressive series of tariffs enforced by the British Crown to keep the price of corn and grain high for “the benefit of domestic producers.” This may seem acceptable to some today, but historical context is key. At this time in history, the British Empire had taken upon what they called “The White Man’s Burden,” meaning that they were colonizers who forcibly took over foreign countries and forced their rules upon them under the belief that their culture was superior. This resulted in hundreds of people and cultures being systematically attacked and eradicated. The British warped these lands to replicate their own economic infrastructure, customs, societal norms, religion, and, most importantly, legislation. The Corn Laws were how the British maintained control over what their victims ate, and with the Irish people already being relegated to second-class citizens in their own country, the Corn Laws made it so that they could not afford grain, beans, vegetables, meats, fruits, or corn. Due to countless other anti-Irish, anti-Catholic legislations the British enforced, the Irish subsisted on a diet of the cheapest food available: potatoes.
Anyone with any knowledge of food scarcity would conclude that having an entire, already marginalized group of people dependent upon one type of food is a recipe for disaster. It would also be reasonable to assume the British government did possess that knowledge and foresight. That is what made the actions of the British government so despicable when faced with the potato blight. The British continued exporting what remained from Irish land when the potato blight swept through the island. There was enough food for the Irish people; it was not available to them. What remained was sent to British shores instead of the mouths of starving Irish children. Pounds of flesh, all so the British government could save a few pounds.
The situation only worsened with more and more policies being added that hurt the Irish but benefited the British. New land ownership laws allowed English landowners to evict Irish farmers when the crops failed, blaming the people instead of the blight. British-owned workhouses claimed to ‘aid the homeless,’ but reports and firsthand accounts from Irish workers stated that the bodies of Irish were piled high from abuse and neglect. When Queen Victoria was pressured to donate money to her starving subjects, she donated a measly 2,000 pounds. The Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I donated 10,000 pounds, but the donation was refused unless he lowered the donation to ‘not upstage the Queen’s generosity.’ In an act of retribution, the Ottomans secretly unloaded their donations in Drogheda under the threat of imprisonment and death. Irish notables wrote letters of thanks to the Ottomans for their generosity, which eventually reached British ears. The Queen’s response was to plan a trip to Ireland to “show solidarity,” but she only visited her rich, Protestant-English friends and offered no additional aid. This earned her the nickname “The Famine Queen.”
Unfortunately, the English legislative powers and ruling class were not alone in their war crimes. Across the pond, millions of Indigenous tribes in America were facing intense cruelty and persecution as the United States government sought to expand settlements and land control.
The Trail of Tears and Death
The Trail of Tears and Death is a bloody, gaping wound in American history, orchestrated by government officials who signed the death warrant of thousands of Native men, women, and children. Tribes were forcibly removed from their lands and made to walk more than 1,000 miles in blistering heat, intense cold, water shortages, spreading plagues, broken limbs, and food shortages under the threat of death. Heavily armed soldiers accompanied their every step, making sure the death march did not cease for a moment. The Choctaw Tribe was one of the most affected tribes, with the last forced removal occurring in 1903. The primary motivator for the Choctaws' removal was to make room on the tribe’s ancestral farmlands for white settlers. An estimated one-quarter to one-third of the 15,000 Choctaws perished on the journey. Once again, lives are upended and destroyed to save a few coins.
Once the dust had settled, the Choctaw were left with nothing. The government seized everything they owned, and what little they possessed had to be rationed. However, when news of the Irish Struggle reached the tribe in 1846, they jumped into action. Approximately $170 was raised by tribe members out of their own pockets. In today’s financial world, their donation is the equivalent of $6,500. A significant sum of money that the tribe could have used for their own needs and ignored those struggling because they differed due to worldly notions of race and ethnicity. However, the Choctaw did not see it that way.
“We have walked the Trail of Tears.” The Choctaw Nation said, when asked why they would sacrifice so much to help strangers in need. “The Irish people walk it now. We can help them as we could not help ourselves.” Love and compassion persisted, even when faced with humankind's cruelest, ugliest parts.
An Unbreakable Bond
Unfortunately, today, many groups still deny that the forced removal of Indigenous tribes from their land was a genocide, much like An Gorta Mór. Not only were the Indigenous tribes forced to leave under threat, but the ones that remained were intimidated, hunted, and killed for their ‘transgression’ against the law. All these inhumane crimes were supported and condoned legally, resulting in death, poverty, and generations of Indigenous groups facing extreme racism and persecution based solely on their race. Many of the legal, social, and systematic issues that began during the period of forced removal persist today, such as the ongoing struggle to protect land rights, economic disparities compared to the general American public, ongoing harmful stereotypes, and a deep, generational trauma within tribal communities.
The Irish and Choctaw continued to stay in contact post-famine, and their generosity was never forgotten. In 1995, Irish President Mary Robinson visited the Choctaw Nation to formally thank the Choctaw for their aid and re-establish the connection. In honor of this momentous occasion, she was made an honorary chief.
In 2017, the sculpture was erected and dedicated to the Choctaw Nation. The work, ‘Kindred Spirits,’ consists of nine 20-foot stainless steel eagle feathers arranged in a circle to represent an empty food bowl. The artist, Alex Pentek, purposefully made no feather identical to convey that although humans may have differences, unity can and must be found. The sculpture can be found in Midleton, County Cork (the town that received the aid directly).
In 2018, the Irish Taoiseach (or Prime Minister), Leo Varadkar, visited the Choctaw Headquarters to initiate the first set of yearly scholarships for Choctaw students to study abroad in Ireland.
In 2020, with the coronavirus pandemic raging in nations around the world, the Hopi and Navajo tribes struggled greatly. To 'pay it forward,’ the Irish government donated $1.8 million to supply clean water, food, and supplies to the tribes. This donation was made in honor of the Choctaw Nation.
The connection is acknowledged and celebrated today, particularly in the artistic world, where many sculptures, statues, and painted pieces commemorate the great deed. Ireland and the Choctaw Nation warmly acknowledge their friends across the pond, with the Choctaw Nation hosting Saint Patrick’s Day events and Irish schools and universities hosting classes and seminars about Choctaw culture.
It was March when the Choctaw sent their aid to Ireland. In the United States, March is recognized as National Irish Heritage Month. During this month, it is vital to acknowledge the truth behind Irish history and other aspects of history that have been underrepresented or ignored, such as the forced removal of the Choctaw and other tribes. When the truth behind history becomes well-known, atrocities and tragedies are less likely to occur because more people will resist.
Never lose hope, for even one act of kindness can forever change the paths of two nations separated by an ocean.
References To Learn More
https://holodomor.ca/starvation-as-a-political-tool-from-the-nineteenth-to-the-twenty-first-century/
Comments