Post by Cliff Barber

Memorial of St Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin Today is the Memorial of St Kateri Tekakwitha, circa 17thC, Virgin Born to a Christian Algonquin (Canadian Indigenous people) woman and non-Christian Mohawk chief, she was orphaned during a small-pox epidemic which left her with a scarred face and impaired eyesight. Baptized in 1676 by a Jesuit Missionary, she was shunned and abused by her Mohawk village in upstate NY for her Catholic faith. Fled by foot on a 200 mile journey to a Christian community just outside of Montreal. Considered a “white Martyr” by the Church because she suffered intense persecution and self-denial for the sake of Christ without being executed. Frequently depicted with a Turtle (representing her maternal clan, the Turtle Clan of the Mohawk Nation), the Rosary (her devotion to the Virgin Mary), a Wooden Crucifix (her love of Jesus and embrace of personal suffering) and a Lily (was known as the “Lily of the Mohawks” to symbolize her purity, innocence and chastity). She is special to many black Americans like me whose heritage is intertwined with indigenous people, in my case the Choctaw Tribe of Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.