St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Tekakwitha was born 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, which is present day Auriesville, NY.

During an outbreak of smallbox, Tekakwitha was left disfigured and orphaned. At 19 she was baptized and renamed Kateri (Catherine). Refusing to marry, she left her village and joined a Jesuit mission in Kahnawake.

She took a vow of perpetual virginity and died at 24. It is said upon her death, her scars vanished and she appeared beautiful and radiant. She is the first canonized Native American.

St. Kateri is the patron saint of the environment, loss of parents, Native Americans and ecologists.