Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was a Native American from the Mohawk Tribe. Her name, Kateri, is the Indian version of the name Katherine, which she got from Catherine of Siena. Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in Ossernenon(a town in present day New York). She is the first Native American to become a Saint. When she was very young, she got smallpox. This disease left her skin covered in scars- scars that she hated and wished she had never gotten. The disease also made her partially blind, and that is where she got the name Tekakwitha(meaning “she who bumps into things”). It was not only her that got the smallpox disease- her entire family contracted the disease and died from it. With no immediate family left, Kateri was raised by her uncle. …show more content…
She eventually chose to never marry a man on earth, but to marry Jesus Christ, taking a vow of chastity. Her uncle eventually came to not hate Christianity, but he did not fully accept her decisions. Her uncle, aunt, and other members of the Mohawk tribe did not approve; to avoid persecution, Kateri left her tribe and joined a Christian group who was living in Canada. Here she was known for her kindness and compassion, and she helped take care of the sick and elderly. Kateri is believed to have slept on thorns. She also prayed for the others she left behind in the Mohawk tribe. She fasted, and when she ate she purposely made her food taste worse.
Kateri passed away only 5 years after leaving the Mohawk tribe, dying at age 24 on April 17, 1680. Eventually, she was declared a saint by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21, 2012. She’s the patroness of Native Americans, ecology, and the environment. Saint Kateri has a shrine in Fonda, New York, which is where she was baptized on April 5, 1676. She was buried in Quebec, Canada. It is believed that as she died, her last words were “Jesus, I love you”. People say that right after she died, all of the marks and scars left on her face vanished, leaving it perfect and