Two South Whidbey residents are helping to organize a unique cross-cultural exchange in Ireland this month.
Clinton artist Melissa Koch and her partner Jamen Shively are founding partners for Kindred Spirits Ireland, which is hosting a world peace gathering July 18-20 at the historic Dripsey Castle in County Cork. The event brings together Irish singers, poets and storytellers with Indigenous people from all over the world, including leaders, elders and artists from the Amazon, Andes, Turtle Island, Navajo, Lakota and Kalaallit.
The volunteer-led initiative is inspired by the large stainless steel sculpture in Midleton, County Cork that commemorates the generous donation given by the Native American Choctaw people during the Irish potato famine, which occurred from 1845 to 1852. This was also shortly after the Trail of Tears that displaced the Choctaw from Georgia to Oklahoma.
Since then, a remarkable bond has endured between the people of Ireland and the Choctaw Nation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Irish recalled the Choctaw’s gift during their time of need and gave a sizable donation to assist the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Reservation, which were suffering from a high death toll.
In 2022, Kindred Spirits Ireland formed on the 175th anniversary of the Choctaw gift to rekindle that kindness. The result is the world peace gathering this summer. Tickets to the three-day event cost 230 euros and can be purchased at tinyurl.com/b7vnyddj. Sales and fundraising efforts go to covering travel and accommodation costs for Indigenous guest speakers and event venues.
The event aims to uplift ancestral wisdom, foster healing and strengthen global solidarity through ceremony and storytelling. There will be communal meals, sacred talking circles, fireside gatherings and many performances.
For those unable to hop a plane to the Emerald Isle, the event will be livestreamed, hosted on ONE World, a platform founded by Whidbey Islanders John and Sommer Ramer.
“I know so many people on Whidbey Island are really interested in this sort of work,” Koch said.
Her great-grandmother is from Cork, and she grew up hearing stories of fairies.
“My mother would always say, ‘Don’t ever forget you’re Irish,’” Koch recalled.
Many artists will be bringing their work to the event, including Koch. She plans to bring a piece called “Tree of Life” that she made when the first wildfires broke out in the Cascade Mountains.
There will also be other events happening shortly before the gathering, including a cultural exchange journey July 11-17 that will travel through several towns and villages across Ireland, including Dingle and Valentia Island. The Full Moon Eighth Fire Ceremony, led by Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr., will take place the evening of July 10 at the Kindred Spirits sculpture. To represent unity and a collective commitment to peace, Irish ashes from sacred fires will be added to sacred ashes collected from Indigenous communities around the globe.
“All of us living on an island, and living on earth, there’s this connection we forget,” Koch said. “We get so separated and isolated … this project is a beautiful awakener to remind us of our true connection to one another.”
For more information, visit the website kindredspirits.earth.
