Two Choctaw Students Earn Scholarships to Ireland

DURANT, Okla. – Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma tribal members Bianca Catalán and Cordell Palmer were recently named Choctaw-Ireland scholars by the Chahta Foundation. The two will begin classes this fall at University College Cork in Ireland. As recipients of the prestigious Choctaw-Ireland scholarships, they will work toward master’s degrees in their chosen fields.

Catalán, 33, from San Francisco, graduated from City College of New York summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre. This fall, she will pursue a Master of Arts in Management and Creative Producing.
Catalán will be working on original music based on her heritage. At the end of her school year, she will perform at the Cork Opera House. She hopes to return to perform for the Choctaw Nation. Her grandmother Alice Joel was a classically trained singer who attended the Choctaw boarding schools Wheelock Academy and Goodland Academy.

“I had the privilege to visit Cork last summer,” Catalán said, noting she performed with her band at ClarinetFest 2024 in Dublin. “I visited the ‘Kindred Spirits’ sculpture in Midleton, County Cork, and I felt this incredible sense of harmony between the Choctaw Nation and the Irish. I am deeply grateful to be a representative of our people by receiving this scholarship and I hope my work will honor our histories.”
Palmer, 22, graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University magna cum laude where he was an Honors Program graduate, Alpha Chi Honor Society member, and a Global Scholar. At SEOSU he earned a Bachelor of Arts in English.

This fall, he will be pursuing a Master of Arts in International Public Policy and Diplomacy.

After graduation from Cork, Palmer said, “I would love to come back and work for the Choctaw Nation and give back to the tribe that has done so much for me. I am truly grateful to the Choctaw Nation and University College Cork to receive this prestigious scholarship and opportunity.”

The scholarships were created by the government of Ireland in 2017 in recognition of the Choctaw tribe helping Irish people during the Great Famine, or the Potato Famine of the mid-1800s. Choctaws, not long off the “Trail of Tears” and still settling in Indian Territory learned of, and related to the suffering in Ireland. Though they had little to spare themselves, Choctaws collected what they could through their churches and delivered the funds across the ocean. The Irish have never forgotten the gift credited with saving thousands of lives.