Eternal Heart (sculpture)

Eternal Heart is a large stainless steel outdoor sculpture unveiled in Tuskahoma, Oklahoma, August 2024.[1][2][3] It is a companion piece to the 2017 Kindred Spirits, located in Bailick Park in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland. Both sculptures honor the story of Choctaw-Irish relations.

Created by Choctaw artist Samuel Stitt, Eternal Heart commemorates the 1847 donation by the Choctaw people to Irish famine relief during the Great Famine, despite the Choctaw themselves living in hardship and poverty, having recently endured the Trail of Tears.[4] The original donation totaled $170 USD, which has been estimated at $5000 in today's U.S. dollars.[5]

The 8-foot-tall steel structure combines a Celtic trinity knot (triquetra) intertwined with a heart and is specifically placed facing toward Ireland. The concrete base is edged with diamond shapes, a Choctaw symbol of reverence to the diamondback rattlesnake. The sculpture sits atop a mound, honoring the moundbuilder heritage of the Choctaw ancestors[6] as well as the ancient “hill forts” and mounds found in Ireland.

Eternal Heart was a joint commission, funded by the Government of Ireland and the Chahta Foundation. It is part of ongoing nation-to-nation relationship building between the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and Ireland, in addition to a sister city agreement between McAlester, Oklahoma and Midleton, Ireland,[7] and a sponsored scholarship program for Choctaw Nation citizens through University College Cork.

References

  1. ^ Wood, Jake (2 September 2024). "Native American tribe unveil sculpture to honour Irish connection" BBC Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  2. ^ Whelan, Sean (1 September 2024). "Choctaw Nation unveils 'eternal' sculpture dedicated to Ireland" . RTÉ. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  3. ^ Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (30 August 2024). "Choctaw Nation unveils 'Eternal Heart' sculpture". Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  4. ^ Wood, Jake (2 September 2024). "Native American tribe unveil sculpture to honour Irish connection" BBC Retrieved 29 November 2025
  5. ^ Maguire, Siobhan (22 March 2015). "Choctaw gift is a giant feather in Cork's cap" . Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  6. ^ Iti Fabvssa (1 March 2015). "Ancestors of the Choctaw and the spiritual history of the mounds" Choctaw Nation Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  7. ^ Tamijani, Samson (25 November 2025). "'A glowing example': McAlester taps into Choctaw history with pursuing Irish sister city" KJRH News2Oklahoma. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.