Kateri Tekakwitha

         Kateri Tekakwitha is the first Native American to be declared a saint.  Tekakwitha was born around 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, which is located in upper New York state.  Those familiar with Isaac Jogues, René Goupil and Jean de Lalande (all featured on American Saints and Causes) will recognize Ossernenon as the village in which these saints suffered their martyrdom.  

         Kateri was given the name Tekakwitha at birth, which means “She who bumps into things” in the Mohawk language, likely a reference to her eyesight that was left impaired by smallpox.  Kateri was the daughter of a Mohawk chief and an Algonquin woman who had been assimilated into the tribe after her capture.  Her mother was a baptized catholic and had been educated by the French Jesuit missionaries.  Kateri also had a younger brother.

         Tragedy struck early in Kateri’s life. When she was four years old, smallpox devastated her tribe. Both of her parents and her brother died. The disease left Tekakwitha with scars on her face and damaged her eyesight. Now an orphan, she was adopted by her father’s sister and her husband, who was a chief of the Turtle Clan of the Mohawks. The conflict between Kateri’s people and French and Dutch colonists led to several Mohawk villages being burned and destroyed. Kateri was forced to flee with her family, who now moved to the new village of Caughnawaga built on the north side of the Mohawk River (where Fonda, New York is today).  Jesuit missionaries came to the village in 1667 when Kateri was 11 years old. Her uncle was leery of Tekakwitha interacting with the missionaries, not wanting to see her become a Christian. It was to no avail. This modest girl who helped make meals, gather food, do beadwork and weaving, also found in Christianity comfort and something that helped her make sense of her life. When her village was attacked by Mohicans, she helped the Jesuit priest Jean Pierron tend to the wounded and bury the dead.  Her aunt and uncle tried to arrange marriages for her, but Tekakwitha refused, wanting to be espoused only to Jesus. She met another Jesuit priest, Jacques de Lamberville, in 1674 and told him she wanted to be baptized. He began to formally instruct her in the faith. On Easter Sunday in 1676 Lamberville baptized Tekakwitha. Tekakwitha chose the name “Catherine” as her Christian name in honor of St. Catherine of Sienna. (Kateri is the Mohawk form of the name.)

          Accounts are not clear what conflict or suffering Kateri endured as a result of her conversion.  Father Lamberville suggested she relocate to Kahnawake, another Jesuit mission site, just south of Montreal, where a number of other Native American converts had chosen to live.  Kateri did so in 1677, carrying with her a letter from Lamberville to the Superior of the mission, which read:

‍I ask you to please take charge of directing her; it is a treasure which we are giving you.  Guard it well and make it bear fruit for the glory of God and the salvation of a soul which is certainly very dear to Him.‍

          In Kahnawake, she made her first Holy Communion on Christmas Day.  Two years later, on the Feast of the Annunciation, she made vows of consecrated virginity, although they were not formally recognized by the local bishop.  At the mission, she was mentored in the faith by other Native American converts, particularly Anastasia Tegonhatsiongo, who was a friend of Kateri’s mother.  She engaged in rigorous ascetic practices and penances, despite warnings of their risk to her health.  At one point she and a friend considered starting a religious order for Native Americans, but the Jesuits discouraged it.  By Holy Week of 1680, Kateri’s health slid.  She died on April 17, 1680, around the age of 24.  It is said that her final words were, “Jesus, Mary, I love you”.  Within minutes after Kateri’s death, the smallpox scars that had marred her face were said to have vanished.  It is also reported that in the weeks after her death, Tekakwitha appeared to three individuals – Teganhatisiongo, a friend named Marie-Thérèse, and a Jesuit Father Chauchetière – announcing she was heading to Heaven.  Father Chauchetière had a chapel built near her grave.  Pilgrimages to the site began as early as 1684.

          Kateri Tekakwitha was canonized on the same day - October 21, 2012 - as another saint featured on American Saints and Causes: Marianne Cope.

         Saint Kateri Tekakwitha is considered a patron saint of the environment, people in exile, and Native Americans.  Pilgrims have several locations associated with Kateri to choose from.  The Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville, New York is built on the grounds on which Kateri was born.  The Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine & Historic Site is located nearby in Fonda, New York.  It is where Kateri was baptized and lived much of her life.  The National Shrine of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha in Canada is located in Kahnawake, Quebec in the Saint Francis Xavier Mission.  Kateri spent the last years of her life here and her mortal remains are entombed within the church.