Kateri Tekakwitha
17th‑century Mohawk Catholic saint, first Indigenous saint of North America (1656–1680)
Kateri Tekakwitha (1656 – April 17, 1680) was a Mohawk woman who 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, becoming the first Native American saint. She is known as "the Lily of the Mohawks", "the Protectress of Canada", and "the Genevieve of New France".
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, taking the baptismal name Catherine (or Kateri).
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.
Early life and education
She was born around 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, in what is now northeastern New York.
The public source identifies “Kateri Tekakwitha” as 17th‑century Mohawk Catholic saint, first Indigenous saint of North America (1656–1680). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kateri, Tekakwitha and 17th.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q609. VIAF identifies the subject as 74650304. The Library of Congress control number is n80094166. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1656, 1680, 2012 and 1980.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kateri Tekakwitha” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.