Comments on: Black Irish Reunion in SE Missouri http://irishkc.com/black-irish-reunion-in-se-missouri.htm Kansas City Irish Festivals, Music, Pubs, & Events by an Artist in Ireland Wed, 23 May 2012 02:46:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Bock the Robber http://irishkc.com/black-irish-reunion-in-se-missouri.htm#comment-48930 Bock the Robber Wed, 27 Jun 2007 00:27:10 +0000 http://irishkc.com/index.php/black-irish-reunion-in-se-missouri.htm#comment-48930 Every time I read or hear something about the treatment of the indigenous people in North America, I become apoplectic with rage, which is probably why I read less of it than I should. Native American is not a term I feel comfortable with, but maybe that's a European perspective. The story of the Choctaw people's engagement with the Irish famine is worth repeating, and maybe some of us should do so. It might help us to have a better understanding of the current influx of African people into Ireland. Every time I read or hear something about the treatment of the indigenous people in North America, I become apoplectic with rage, which is probably why I read less of it than I should. Native American is not a term I feel comfortable with, but maybe that’s a European perspective.

The story of the Choctaw people’s engagement with the Irish famine is worth repeating, and maybe some of us should do so. It might help us to have a better understanding of the current influx of African people into Ireland.

]]> By: eolai http://irishkc.com/black-irish-reunion-in-se-missouri.htm#comment-48858 eolai Tue, 26 Jun 2007 05:49:39 +0000 http://irishkc.com/index.php/black-irish-reunion-in-se-missouri.htm#comment-48858 Yes it's a much used and abused phrase, the most common usage of it in Ireland pertaining to the popular myth of the masses conceived by the Spanish Armada Yes it’s a much used and abused phrase, the most common usage of it in Ireland pertaining to the popular myth of the masses conceived by the Spanish Armada

]]> By: kevin kiley http://irishkc.com/black-irish-reunion-in-se-missouri.htm#comment-48856 kevin kiley Tue, 26 Jun 2007 04:53:21 +0000 http://irishkc.com/index.php/black-irish-reunion-in-se-missouri.htm#comment-48856 "Black Irish" actually takes on many meanings in this part of the world. Here in the Arkansas Ozarks the term is also associated with the Cherokee but for different reasons. In 1838 the "Trail of Tears" began with the Cherokee Nation being forcibly removed from the East Coast and relocated to Oklahoma. The "Trail of Tears" led through the Ozarks and on that first forced march the winter was extremely brutal and they found themselves having to "hole up" in the Northern Ozarks around what would now be Stone and Izzard Counties, right there on the border with Missouri. That winter, thousands of the Cherokee "escaped" along with the help of local Ozark dwellers, no small portion of whom were Irish immigrants. The march went on in the spring and the "escapees" were left behind. Many of the Cherokee women married Irish men in the Ozarks and vice-versa. Irish daughters would marry Cherokee men. It was the children of these mixed unions that would come to be referred to as the "Black Irish" in Arkansas. They were also called "The Lost Cherokee" because the people who were hired to move the Cherokee lied about how many were lost along the way and, when they got to Oklahoma, claimed that everyone arrived so they would get paid in full. They were basically being paid as if they were moving cattle and "the head count" was faked. So to this day it is hard for many Arkansas Cherokees or their descendants to trace their history. Official government documents show them as having arrived in Oklahoma when that actually never happened. Most of the "Black Irish" in Arkansas are also "The Lost Cherokee". Scott Moye, the amazing Irish Button Box ( and Irish whistle and fiddle ) player here in Arkansas, whom I had the pleasure to share the Atrium stage with at last year's Kansas City Irish Festival, was born and raised in NE Arkansas. He is one-half Cherokee and one-half Irish. “Black Irish” actually takes on many meanings in this part of the world.

Here in the Arkansas Ozarks the term is also associated with the Cherokee but for different reasons.

In 1838 the “Trail of Tears” began with the Cherokee Nation
being forcibly removed from the East Coast and relocated to Oklahoma. The “Trail of Tears” led through the Ozarks and on that first forced march the winter was extremely brutal and they found themselves having to “hole up” in the Northern Ozarks around what would now be Stone and Izzard Counties,
right there on the border with Missouri.

That winter, thousands of the Cherokee “escaped” along with the help of local Ozark dwellers, no small portion of whom were Irish immigrants.

The march went on in the spring and the “escapees” were left behind. Many of the Cherokee women married Irish men in the Ozarks and vice-versa. Irish daughters would marry Cherokee men.

It was the children of these mixed unions that would come to be referred to as the “Black Irish” in Arkansas.

They were also called “The Lost Cherokee” because the people who were hired to move the Cherokee lied about how many were lost along the way and, when they got to Oklahoma, claimed that everyone arrived so they would get paid in full.

They were basically being paid as if they were moving cattle and “the head count” was faked.

So to this day it is hard for many Arkansas Cherokees or their
descendants to trace their history. Official government documents show them as having arrived in Oklahoma when that actually never happened. Most of the “Black Irish” in Arkansas are also “The Lost Cherokee”.

Scott Moye, the amazing Irish Button Box ( and Irish whistle and fiddle ) player here in Arkansas, whom I had the pleasure to share the Atrium stage with at last year’s Kansas City Irish Festival, was born and raised in NE Arkansas. He is one-half Cherokee and one-half Irish.

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