Complex solidarities: the public history of Irish and Native American allyship

Abstract

Since 2020, Irish people have donated over $2.5 million to a relief fund supporting residents of the Navajo and Hopi reservations in northeastern Arizona. Many donors believed their contributions helped `repay a debt’ owed by the Irish to Native Americans— specifically, the Choctaw Nation, which sent aid to Ireland during the 1847 Famine. This article examines how Irish people understand their historical links to settler colonialism and how valid or common it is for them to express solidarity with other colonized peoples, particularly Indigenous groups. Focusing on the relationship between the Irish and Native Americans, especially the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma since the 1990s, the article explores this expression of solidarity. It considers the historical rationale offered by Irish donors to the Navajo and Hopi between 2020 and 2024 via GoFundMe, framing it as repayment for the Choctaw’s 1847 gift. Using Charles Mills’ concept of white ignorance, the article critiques how these acts of solidarity can obscure Ireland’s own role in settler colonialism—from treaty negotiations that displaced Indigenous peoples to participation in land dispossession. By selectively remembering shared suffering while ignoring complicity in colonialism, Irish narratives reveal a more complex and sometimes problematic form of solidarity.