Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Kateri Tekakwitha , given the name Tekakwitha (Tekaouïta, baptized as Catherine ("Kateri" in Mohawk), known as Lily of the Mohawks (1656 – April 17, 1680) and Protectress of Canada, also as Geneviève of New France/ Geneviève of Canada, was a Mohawk/Algonquin young woman when she converted to Catholicism. Committing to live as a virgin, she became known for her devotion to Jesus Christ, diligent work ethic, and dedicated prayers for her fellow Native people. She was canonized in 2012, the first Native American saint. Born in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, in present-day New York, she and her family contracted smallpox in an epidemic; she was the only one of the family to survive, but had scarring on her face. She was influenced by French Jesuit missionaries and converted to Catholicism at age 19. After taking a vow of perpetual virginity, she left her village, and moved to the Jesuit mission village of Kahnawake, just south of Montreal. There she died five years later, respected for her piety and good works. She was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II, and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI at Saint Peter's Basilica on 21 October 2012, along with six others: Jacques Berthieu, Pedro Calungsod, Giovanni Battista Piamarta, Maria of Mt Carmel Salles y Barangueras, Marianne of Molokaʻi, and Anna Schäffer. Tekakwitha is the given name she received by her native Mohawk people. It translates to "She who bumps into things." She was born around 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon in northeastern New York. She was the daughter of Kenneronkwa, a Mohawk chief, and Kahenta, an Algonquin woman, who had been captured in a raid and then adopted and assimilated into the tribe. Kahenta had been baptized Catholic and educated by French missionaries in Trois-Rivières, east of Montreal. Mohawk warriors captured her and took her to their homeland. Kahenta eventually married Kenneronkwa. Tekakwitha was the first of their two children. A brother followed.