Kateri Tekakwitha was one of the victims of the genocide 
imposed by the early settlers of New England around the year 1660. Her people received blankets that were infected with smallpox and she fell ill and nearly died at the tender age of four years old. The outbreak of the disease killed her brother and both parents and many others of her Mohawk Tribesmen and women. She recovered but her face was severely disfigured and she was left with other resulting physical problems as well. At her Catholic baptism, she was given the name Kateri Tekakwitha, which means “one who puts things in order”. Kateri was shunned by members of her Tribe because of her conversion but she loved the Creator and did not back down to criticism. She devoutly practiced her Tribal traditional spirituality in combination with Catholicism. The virtues of her Tribal loyalty combined with Catholic obedience have served as an ecumenical bridge for many native Americans who feel shunned or discriminated against by early Christians. She is the patron of the environment and ecology, a cause for which many American Indian people, is the very root of our spirituality. She died April 17, 1680. Miraculous events occurred at the moment of her death which qualified her to be considered for Sainthood. Pope Benedict XVI approved her canonization and this year she will become an official Saint.
Devotion to Kateri is responsible for establishing Native American Ministries in the Roman Catholic Church all over the United States and Canada. Kateri was declared venerable by the Church in 1943 and Beatified in 1980. Thousands of devotees have made pilgrimages to the shrines erected for her and also to her birthplace at Auriesville, New York. They still do to this very day. Catholic missionary priests have learned from Native American Ministries to share their faith in more creative ways then was originally done. Fr. Earl Henley MSC, at Soboba Indian Reservation Mission Catholic Church in California, has attended the sweat lodge and joined the Bird Singers from the Tribe as they relate the ancient Creation stories in song. Religion is no longer “imposed” upon native people, but rather shared with Tribal members as the Tribe shares their spiritual ways with the Church.
A stained glass window above the altar at Soboba Indian Mission, beautifully depicts sage burning in an abalone shell with the smoke ascending to an eagle feather and the chapel is often blessed in the ancient language and ceremony by Tribal members. At the instillation of an Auxiliary Bishop, The Diocese of San Bernardino, California invited Tribal members to ceremonially purify the cathedral at the beginning of the elaborate celebration. Before the mass, Tribal members devoted to the Blessed Kateri, entered the huge congregation to the sound of guard rattles and as hundreds of people watched, purified the entire building according to ancient Tribal custom and prayed over the officiating Roman Catholic clergy and the altar. It was an extraordinarily impressive sight that made every native in attendance proud of our heritage and spirituality. No matter how we each understand our perspective Higher Power, Kateri expressed the wisdom that bridges can be built across the troubled waters of our past. We can share our culture without sacrificing or compromising anything of sacred value. We can love and be loved by our Creator and one another. We can respect the individuality and uniqueness of every faith and nation.
Kateri serves as a healer to native peoples of this land. She offers peace, humility and open-minded compassion to those who feel wounded by the cruel acts of genocide imposed upon the First Nations. To forgive is to heal. To hold resentment tightly within us is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die! Kateri expresses the notion that the Creator of us all is everybody’s God, no matter which name we use to address Him.
