Native American nations, Irish immigrants to the United States, and residents of Ireland have a history of often-supportive interactions dating back to the start of the Great Famine. Across multiple generations, people from both communities have drawn attention to their parallel histories of colonization by English-speaking countries.[1][2][3] Scholarship on, and press attention to, these interactions has highlighted both acts of solidarity and the participation of some Irish immigrants in the invasion and dispossession of Native Americans.[1][4]
In 1919, during the Irish war for independence, Irish president Eamon de Valera went to the US to raise support. He met with the Lac Court Oreille Band of the OjibweinWisconsin. There, in front of the 3,000-member tribe, he was made an honorary chief of the Ojibwe.[5] Joe Kingfisher, the Tribal Chief, described his wishes to give de Valera, "'the prettiest blossom of the fairest flower on earth, for you come to us as a representative of one oppressed nation to another,'". The Irish and Ojibwe traded gifts, the Irish receiving a headdress, and the Ojibwe receiving multiple .38 caliber guns, which they still have today.[6]
