Choctaw Nation
DURANT – Molly Cornett and Kirstyn Smith are recipients of the 2026 Choctaw-Ireland Scholarships. The scholarships, which cover all the expenses for two Choctaw students to study for one year at University College Cork in Ireland, are funded through a partnership between the government of Ireland and donations to the Chahta Foundation. They are then awarded by the Chahta Foundation in a competitive selection annually.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma tribal members started their classes in September in Ireland. At the completion of the school year, the students will have master’s degrees in their chosen fields.
Cornett, 24, is a Lexington, Ky. native. While attending Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in both Anthropology and Spanish. Over summer break, she served an internship with the Collections Department at the Choctaw Cultural Center in Durant.
In addition to hobbies of baking and singing in a choir, Cornett enjoys creating with textiles. She was able to put that interest into working with the Living Archaeology Weekend of Kentucky to teach early-day indigenous textiles to hundreds of visitors each year.
She will pursue a Master of Arts in anthropology while at Cork and then plans to attend law school to focus on tribal law.
“I am so grateful to the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the Chahta Foundation, and the University College Cork for making this possible,” Cornett said. “I am so excited for all of the things I will be able to learn and experience while in Ireland.”
Smith, 25, was born in Arlington, Texas, and grew up in nearby McKinney. Smith is a graduate of Texas Tech’s online high school, received an associate’s degree from Collin College in Plano, Texas; then a Bachelor of Music in contemporary jazz and popular music from Columbia College Chicago. She said the scholarship carries special meaning because she has an Irish mother and a Choctaw father, a reminder of the longstanding relationship between the two cultures.
Smith enjoys playing music and singing and writes songs in genres from folk to classical, and sings for a heavy metal band called Red State. She plays multiple instruments, including guitar, keytar, and mandolin.
At Cork, Smith will pursue a Master of Arts in ethnomusicology.
After graduation, Smith plans to pursue a doctorate and become a professor and researcher focused on preserving indigenous musical traditions and expanding their presence in music education.
“Being named a Choctaw-Ireland Scholar is the greatest honor of my life so far, and I’m still catching up to the reality of it,” Smith said. “To the Chahta Foundation, thank you for believing I could represent my people. I know opportunities like this exist because people work for years to open doors for Choctaw students.”
The Choctaw-Ireland Scholarship was established in 2017 by the government of Ireland in recognition of the Choctaw Nation’s humanitarian gift to the Irish people during the Great Famine of 1847. Despite facing hardships of their own following the forced removal from their homelands in Mississippi to Indian Territory along the Trail of Tears less than 20 years before, Choctaw people donated what they could to help those suffering across the Atlantic. Today, the scholarships to study in Ireland continues that legacy by supporting graduate education while strengthening the historic bond between the Choctaw Nation and Ireland.
For scholarship information, chahtafoundation.com/scholarships/.