1. Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
“Lily of the Mohawks”
Youth Ministry Access, Center for Ministry Development, 2012.

2. The Algonquin Indians Were the most populous and widespread
North American Native groups
with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds!
They inhabited most of the Canadian region south of Hudson Bay.

3. During the 17th century, there was an
Algonquin Indian woman who was baptized Catholic
by missionaries who visited her tribe.
She was later captured by the Mohawk Indians during warfare
and forced to hide her new Christian faith.

4. The young girl was captured by
a Mohawk chief
and soon became
his bride.
The Mohawks were the original people of
New York.
They were also known as the fiercest of
the Five Nations of Iroquois Indians.

5. to an Algonquin woman and a Mohawk Chief.
In 1656, a baby girl was born
to an Algonquin woman and a Mohawk Chief.

6. The baby and her family lived in a village near Lake Ontario.
Like others of their time, they lived in a traditional longhouse.
Some longhouses were
up to 200 feet long
and housed
several families.

7. It was not unusual in native culture to wait to name a baby
until the child showed some distinguishing characteristics.
Sadly, Kateri Tekakwitha’s parents
would not have the opportunity
to name their baby girl.

8. were among the first natives who encountered the British
The Mohawk Indians
were among the first natives
who encountered the
British
and other Europeans
who sailed to America
to create a new life.
Unfortunately,
their numbers greatly decreased, because of the many diseases
that these new settlers
brought over from the Old World.
Smallpox, measles and the flu
were devastating to the Mohawks
who had no immunity.

9. but was left weaker, scarred and partially blind.
When Kateri was just
four years old,
small pox spread
through her village
and took the lives of
her mother, father,
and younger brother.
She survived ,
but was left weaker, scarred and partially blind.

10. Kateri was adopted by her uncle,
Orphaned at age 4,
Kateri was adopted by her uncle,
also a Mohawk chief of the Turtle Clan.
He gave her the name
“Tekakwitha”
which translates to mean…
“One who clears her path with her hands”
or “One who reaches out before she walks.”
She was probably named this due to
the blindness that occurred
from the smallpox.

11. Tekakwitha and her new family moved to Caughnawaga
to build a new life after smallpox took most of their tribe.

12. It is said that Tekakwitha grew into a young woman with a sweet,
shy personality. 
She helped her aunts work in the fields where they tended to the corn, beans, and squash, and took care of the traditional longhouse in which
they lived.  
She went to the neighboring forest
to pick the roots needed to prepare medicines and dye. 
She collected firewood in the forest
and water from a stream. 
Despite her poor vision,
she also became very skilled at beadwork. 

13. was established in Caughnawaga
In 1670 St Peter’s Mission
was established in Caughnawaga

15. The native people
called the
Jesuit Missionaries
the
“Black Robes”

16. Tekakwitha often saw the Black Robes in her village.
However, she was forbidden by her uncle
to listen to or speak with them.
He believed that the Black Robes were responsible for bringing disease and bad omens to his village.

17. In 1674,
Father James de Lamberville
came to the mission
at Caughnawaga.

18. about the Christian faith. Most likely, before she died,
The young girl
wanted to meet the
Black Robes
and learn
about the Christian faith.
Most likely, before she died,
her mother had shared
stories and sang songs
from her Catholic faith
with Tekakwitha.

19. At first, Fr. Lamberville was concerned about the daughter of
She asked her uncle to please allow her to study with the missionaries.
At first, Fr. Lamberville was concerned about the daughter of
a chief converting to Catholicism ,
but her uncle finally agreed to allow Tekakwitha to become a Christian.

20. twenty-year old Tekakwitha was baptized. She was given
On Easter, April 5, 1676
twenty-year old Tekakwitha
was baptized. 
She was given
the name of Kateri, which is Mohawk for Catherine.  
Kateri was named in honor of
St. Catherine of Siena.

21. Soon after her baptism, Kateri became the village outcast.
Her family refused her food on Sundays because she wouldn't work. 
Children would taunt her and throw stones. 
She was threatened with torture or death
if she did not renounce her new Christian religion. 

22. Because of increasing hostility from her people
and because she wanted to devote her life to God,
Kateri left her village and fled more than 200 miles
through woods, rivers, and swamps.
Her journey to the Catholic Mission
of St. Francis Xavier at Sault Saint-Louis
took more than two months. 

23. to openly practice their
At the mission,
Kateri Tekakwitha
and other
Native Americans
were finally able
to openly practice their
Catholic faith.

24. Although not formally educated and unable to read and write,
Kateri led a life of prayer and penitential practices. 
She taught the young and helped those in the village
who were poor or sick. 

25. and place them throughout the woods.
Her favorite devotion
was to fashion crosses
out of sticks
and place them throughout the woods. 
These crosses served 
as stations that
reminded her
to spend
a moment in prayer.

26. On Christmas Day 1677,
Kateri made her
First Holy Communion.

27. Kateri made a vow of perpetual virginity,
On March 25, 1679
Kateri made a vow of perpetual virginity,
meaning that she would remain unmarried
and totally devoted to Christ for the rest of her life. 

28. Ever since her battle with smallpox as a child,
Kateri’s health was never very good.
In 1680 she became fatally ill.
She was only 24 years old when she died.

29. two priests witnessed the miracle
After she died,
two priests witnessed the miracle
of all the smallpox scars vanishing from her face.
Her last words were “Lesos Konoronkwa – Jesus, I love you.”

30. 1943
Pope Pius XII
declared
her
Venerable.

31. to be beatified by the Church.
300 years after her death,
Pope John Paul II
beatified her in 1980.
Kateri Tekakwitha
is the first
Native American
to be beatified by the Church.

32. Pope John Paul II named Kateri
Patroness of
World Youth Day
in Toronto, Canada.

33. “Blessed” Kateri will be canonized on October 21, 2012.
In 2011,
Pope Benedict XVI
signed a decree
recognizing
the miracle needed
to canonize her.
“Blessed” Kateri will be canonized on October 21, 2012.

34. Kateri Tekakwitha’s intercession is credited with healing a
Washington State boy named Jake
who had been infected with a flesh-eating bacteria.
Jake's father is Native American and a member of the Lummi tribe. Jake’s mother said his health greatly improved after a visit
by a member of the Tekakwitha Conference.
The woman, also named Kateri, brought a small coin
with an image of Blessed Kateri and a prayer card to Jake.

35. Kateri will be the first Native American from
the present-day continental United States
to be declared a saint in the Catholic Church!