A New Saint - "Lily of the Mohawks"

[ringil]

It’s hard to drive to many places up there anyway.

Some background as to why I’m harping on this:

I was born Catholic in Manchester, England, and I hated being called a papist, left-footer, fisheater, mick. I was treated as a stranger in my own country. Catholics in Northern Ireland had it much worse: they weren’t allowed to own property, to vote or have good jobs.

Don’t we all hate getting labelled because of our religion, colour etc?

I worked in prison as a Chaplain and 30% of the inmate population was “native.” I was assigned to be the “Elder” for the indigenous population since their own tribal elder had died.

Locked in a brick and steel room with 20 or 30 “indigenous” inmates at a time trying to run “Sacred Circle” as a white guy you get culturally sensitive pretty quickly.

As part of my duties I had to escort aboriginal inmates to their reserves for funerals. Drive 5 hours into the bush with a shackled inmate to find some lonely reserve, and then take him on reserve for a “native” funeral and again you get culturally tuned in

(I would always unshackle the inmate and tell them if they ran I wouldn’t chase them… I never lost anyone.)

The fact that I came out alive in both scenarios means I must have learned a few things!

The first nations are real peoples, with real histories, real cultures and our invading culture did great damage to them as a people and as individuals.

The canonization of Blessed Kateri is more than just a good Indian girl being recognized for her holiness by the Church. It’s immensely symbolic for her people.

And has little to do with America or Canada, except she was born there and died here.

THat’s a great story,

Thanks for sharing!

 

[goforgoal]

May I just say that God has truly blessed us – that is – all of us with another Saint.

Yours truly, Father Theodore and Father George Vaniyapurackal, a priest friend from India who is working here in the Marquette diocese. When he introduced himself to a parishioner and said ‘I’m Indian’ the parishioner said: ‘I’m and Indian too!’

from caritasveritas.blogspot.ca/2010/07/blessed-kateri-tekakwitha-1656-1680.html

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, please Pray for us all. Amen.

 

[Adirondacks518]

I’m with you, Adirondacks! I’m tired of all the PC nonsense, too!

We should be ‘darn happy’ that Upstate NY has TWO new Saints being canonized!

Not only Kateri Tekakwitha, but also Mother Marianne Cope!

So you live not far from Fonda? I’m from a city about an hour’s drive west from where you live. I go to Auriesville more often than to Fonda.

You were mentioning the road construction in Fonda. Well, the last time I was at Auriesville (last month), the bridge work over the Mohawk River between Fultonville and Fonda was all finished. But when I was there in July, the traffic was horrible! Luckily I have another way to get to Auriesville (the opposite bank of the river)!

Hopefully they will be/have been wrapping up the construction so I can get down to Auriesville for Oct!

 

[didymus]

You’re right-Kateri was born in Ossernenon, a Mohawk village which is now Auriesville. She lived the first twenty years of her life in what is now New York State, then had to flee to Canada because of persecution by her own people.

She was only in Canada [New France, as it was called back then] for four years, until her death in 1680. Her tomb is at the Mission of St. Francis Xavier, Caughnawaugha (now called ‘Kanawake’), Quebec, opposite the city of Montreal. *

So we in the USA can claim her as our own! She lived the majority of her life here!*

Can’t we just share?
As you say St. Kateri was born here in upstate NY but died in Canada.
We also have in common The North American Martyrs, aka Canadian Martyrs, aka Martyrs of New France (St Isaac Jogues) started out in Canada and were killed in Auriesville.

If you’re ever anywhere near, make sure to visit the Martyr’s Shrine in Auriesville. It is dedicated to both the martyrs and Kateri.

 

[barb_finnegan]

Can’t we just share?
As you say St. Kateri was born here in upstate NY but died in Canada.
We also have in common The North American Martyrs, aka Canadian Martyrs, aka Martyrs of New France (St Isaac Jogues) started out in Canada and were killed in Auriesville.

If you’re ever anywhere near, make sure to visit the Martyr’s Shrine in Auriesville. It is dedicated to both the martyrs and Kateri.

You’re right, didymus.

I saw something from the diocese of Albany regarding Kateri’s canonization, where it was said that she was its ‘first Saint’. And I thought to myself, 'Well, aren’t the three who died at Auriesville (Sts. Isaac Jogues, Rene Goupil, and Jean Lalande) really the ‘first Saints’ of the Albany diocese? After all, it was the ‘seed’ of their bloody martyrdom that caused the ‘bloom’ that was Kateri, just ten years after!

I live an hour’s drive west of Auriesville, but I won’t be able to go there on October 21st.

 

[57Bill]

OMG would you please people STOP with the political correctness?! Who care what indians/native americans/first nations were called.

Lets remember we are celebrating the newly given sainthood of a girl touched by God in a harsh land during a violent and turbulent period of empire. (damn nearby where I grew up) Forget all the semantics and verbal pleasantries.

sometimes folks are just conditioned to being “apolgetic” 24/7/365 here

 

[Parvana]

Speaking of Our Lady of Guadalupe… Juan Diego was actually the first “Native American” saint. He received the apparitions of Our Lady in 1531 in Mexico. He was not Spanish. Juan Diego was his Christianized name. His language, Nahuatl (he was Aztec) is very difficult to pronounce, so the name Our Lady gave to him for herself in his own language was heard as “Guadalupe” by the Spanish. At any rate, Kateri is the first female Native American saint, and as she is being canonized in our own time, it is very exciting!

 

[Parvana]

I am not sure if Juan Diego was actually Aztec, but he lived under Aztec rule in Mexico. He was the first aboriginal American saint, canonized in 2002.

 

[rlg94086]

I am not sure if Juan Diego was actually Aztec, but he lived under Aztec rule in Mexico. He was the first aboriginal American saint, canonized in 2002.

Excellent point. Also, there can be no border disputes over Juan Diego.

 

[Lisa111]

Typical. A beautiful new saint and all the replies are bickering about who she belongs to. Well she belongs to none of the above. She is a Mohawk-Huron CATHOLIC, belonging to the Church first. She was born on Turtle Island which is what we call N. America. We (Anishnabe, “first men”) do NOT recognize the dotted line that causes arguments and separates our families as all of us along the “border” marry from both countries.

The canadians (like my Grandmother, a Chippewa) can come into the usa without a greencard and work and live here. We who live in the usa can NOT go into canada with our beadwork and live and work there. This is because the US, britain and the First Nations made a treaty called the JAY treaty to agree with the boundries for us and britain but not for us, we never agreed to this so we were allowed to have total access to come and go as we always had. Our argument is that almost all of us agree that the land belongs to the Creator and we only are stewards of it and as such cant divvy it up. Land is held in commen. Later when canada became a country they slapped us all in the face by not observing the JAY treaty since britain signed it and NOT canada!

The terms first nations and native americans are legal designations. Both are ok with us and we know what you mean. Better than AB-original, like we just fell out of a tree. We call our own selves by tribal names such as Lakota, “friend” or Anishnabe"first Man". First man was up in heaven with God and saw Him make a beautiful world and asked to be put down here to live…(been regretting that ever since, LOL).

The French and our dear Jesuits were here first and long. The sad way the Jesuits were martyred along the St Lawrence is why Kateri left that area for the peaceful, probably Huron village. In 1641, our chiefs met some Jesuits and asked them to come here, teach us and show us their religion. In 1668 they did and built the Holy Name of Mary church. These saintly men gave us the skills we needed to go into the future armed with knowledge. We loved the french. They ate our food without complaint, they dressed like us, they worked along side us as voyageurs…they married our women only before their priests, whereas the english treated unions casually and often abandoned wife and children when their tour was up. We called french the "singing language’ and learned that with ojibway and english. (see Loon Feather by Iola Fuller).

Along with the seven north american martyrs there was an Indian man named Joseph C. who was martyered with his wife and two children for being Catholic. Kateri would have ended up like that also. When Jean de Brebeof heard of his death he had a vision that angels came down with a white sheet and placed him and his family on it and took them up to heaven. One of the popes even said, he should have been canonized as well…

Juan Diegos Indian name was Speaking Eagle. That is how we address him in prayer.

45 of us from Upper Michigan will be going to Rome to honor our sister in October. Please pray for a safe trip.This includes a priest who is from our tribe. We will be wearing Regalia; mine is a white elk hide dress with fifty pounds of beads stiched on it. Alot of weight since Im over seventy.

Kateri lived in perilous times. If the weather (winters were MUCH worse…global warming isnt bad for everybody) didnt kill you, your food might unless you were good with a bow and arrow against 8oo lbs of bear or moose. There were no hospitals to help us with the new diseases…many children died young. So she died so young, but lived high and great with her faith. We, too live in perilous times. Our countries are losing their souls…a new death threat stalks our young, that of soul loss. with secularism, drugs, alcohol and moral collapse we are in greater peril and maybe prayers of intercession to our dear sister will help our ones here on Turtle Island.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Oh I forgot until reading this thread. Kateri Tekakwitha is going to be canonized this Friday!

Great.

I visited the Shrine of North American Martyrs in Auriesville NY. It was a great trip.

Jim

 

[Denise1957]

Typical. A beautiful new saint and all the replies are bickering about who she belongs to. Well she belongs to none of the above. She is a Mohawk-Huron CATHOLIC, belonging to the Church first. She was born on Turtle Island which is what we call N. America. We (Anishnabe, “first men”) do NOT recognize the dotted line that causes arguments and separates our families as all of us along the “border” marry from both countries.

The canadians (like my Grandmother, a Chippewa) can come into the usa without a greencard and work and live here. We who live in the usa can NOT go into canada with our beadwork and live and work there. This is because the US, britain and the First Nations made a treaty called the JAY treaty to agree with the boundries for us and britain but not for us, we never agreed to this so we were allowed to have total access to come and go as we always had. Our argument is that almost all of us agree that the land belongs to the Creator and we only are stewards of it and as such cant divvy it up. Land is held in commen. Later when canada became a country they slapped us all in the face by not observing the JAY treaty since britain signed it and NOT canada!

The terms first nations and native americans are legal designations. Both are ok with us and we know what you mean. Better than AB-original, like we just fell out of a tree. We call our own selves by tribal names such as Lakota, “friend” or Anishnabe"first Man". First man was up in heaven with God and saw Him make a beautiful world and asked to be put down here to live…(been regretting that ever since, LOL).

The French and our dear Jesuits were here first and long. The sad way the Jesuits were martyred along the St Lawrence is why Kateri left that area for the peaceful, probably Huron village. In 1641, our chiefs met some Jesuits and asked them to come here, teach us and show us their religion. In 1668 they did and built the Holy Name of Mary church. These saintly men gave us the skills we needed to go into the future armed with knowledge. We loved the french. They ate our food without complaint, they dressed like us, they worked along side us as voyageurs…they married our women only before their priests, whereas the english treated unions casually and often abandoned wife and children when their tour was up. We called french the "singing language’ and learned that with ojibway and english. (see Loon Feather by Iola Fuller).

Along with the seven north american martyrs there was an Indian man named Joseph C. who was martyered with his wife and two children for being Catholic. Kateri would have ended up like that also. When Jean de Brebeof heard of his death he had a vision that angels came down with a white sheet and placed him and his family on it and took them up to heaven. One of the popes even said, he should have been canonized as well…

Juan Diegos Indian name was Speaking Eagle. That is how we address him in prayer.

45 of us from Upper Michigan will be going to Rome to honor our sister in October. Please pray for a safe trip.This includes a priest who is from our tribe. We will be wearing Regalia; mine is a white elk hide dress with fifty pounds of beads stiched on it. Alot of weight since Im over seventy.

Kateri lived in perilous times. If the weather (winters were MUCH worse…global warming isnt bad for everybody) didnt kill you, your food might unless you were good with a bow and arrow against 8oo lbs of bear or moose. There were no hospitals to help us with the new diseases…many children died young. So she died so young, but lived high and great with her faith. We, too live in perilous times. Our countries are losing their souls…a new death threat stalks our young, that of soul loss. with secularism, drugs, alcohol and moral collapse we are in greater peril and maybe prayers of intercession to our dear sister will help our ones here on Turtle Island.

A wonderful post!

I am so looking forward to Kateri’s canonization. Wish I could go to Rome for the event. I do worry that she will mainly be seen as the patron saint of environmentalism, when in fact she should be considered as so much more than that. Having read the lengthy biography by one of the priests who personally knew her, she was very devoted to Our Lord and Our Lady, and the the ill and infirm in the village.

Lisa, could you tell us more about the Indian Joseph C., who was martyred with his wife and children? Was he the saintly Indian who paddled the canoes for the priests (who was also martyred) when they had to travel? My memory is a little hazy. I’m thinking of the North American Martyr priests.

My great grandfather on my dad’s side was Cherokee and Melungeon, born in Tennessee. He was also a Methodist minister, and he was very devout, kind, and loving. He would have made a good Catholic.

 

[Lisa111]

Im over 70 so good luck with this, the only url I had in my favs files:

catholocism.org/joseph-chihwatenha-red-man-without-a-cause.html

I found alot of stuff at a canadian library website, looking up the Jesuit Relations, Each Jesuit wrote in French in these little black note books until they got a new one from a boat coming in. The finished Relations (ree lay see owns) were sent to the motherhouse in France. In those I saw the vision recorded by Jean de Brebeuf.

All the info I had, including a paper written by a university Professor, I sent the originals to Rome and the copies to our wonderful young Bishop Sample. I am old and have Lupus, severe heart defects, asthma etc etc and not long to live, so I was clearing alot of this stuff out and dont have any hardcopies. Its our custom to prepare yourself and the home when you are getting ready to “leave”. I dont see alot of preparation for this important event amoung other cultures. Its a good feeling to divest ones self of :“stuff”, makes traveling light and the mind at peace.

 

[ringil]

Typical. A beautiful new saint and all the replies are bickering about who she belongs to. Well she belongs to none of the above. She is a Mohawk-Huron CATHOLIC, belonging to the Church first. She was born on Turtle Island which is what we call N. America. We (Anishnabe, “first men”) do NOT recognize the dotted line that causes arguments and separates our families as all of us along the “border” marry from both countries.

The canadians (like my Grandmother, a Chippewa) can come into the usa without a greencard and work and live here. We who live in the usa can NOT go into canada with our beadwork and live and work there. This is because the US, britain and the First Nations made a treaty called the JAY treaty to agree with the boundries for us and britain but not for us, we never agreed to this so we were allowed to have total access to come and go as we always had. Our argument is that almost all of us agree that the land belongs to the Creator and we only are stewards of it and as such cant divvy it up. Land is held in commen. Later when canada became a country they slapped us all in the face by not observing the JAY treaty since britain signed it and NOT canada!

The terms first nations and native americans are legal designations. Both are ok with us and we know what you mean. Better than AB-original, like we just fell out of a tree. We call our own selves by tribal names such as Lakota, “friend” or Anishnabe"first Man". First man was up in heaven with God and saw Him make a beautiful world and asked to be put down here to live…(been regretting that ever since, LOL).

The French and our dear Jesuits were here first and long. The sad way the Jesuits were martyred along the St Lawrence is why Kateri left that area for the peaceful, probably Huron village. In 1641, our chiefs met some Jesuits and asked them to come here, teach us and show us their religion. In 1668 they did and built the Holy Name of Mary church. These saintly men gave us the skills we needed to go into the future armed with knowledge. We loved the french. They ate our food without complaint, they dressed like us, they worked along side us as voyageurs…they married our women only before their priests, whereas the english treated unions casually and often abandoned wife and children when their tour was up. We called french the "singing language’ and learned that with ojibway and english. (see Loon Feather by Iola Fuller).

Along with the seven north american martyrs there was an Indian man named Joseph C. who was martyered with his wife and two children for being Catholic. Kateri would have ended up like that also. When Jean de Brebeof heard of his death he had a vision that angels came down with a white sheet and placed him and his family on it and took them up to heaven. One of the popes even said, he should have been canonized as well…

Juan Diegos Indian name was Speaking Eagle. That is how we address him in prayer.

45 of us from Upper Michigan will be going to Rome to honor our sister in October. Please pray for a safe trip.This includes a priest who is from our tribe. We will be wearing Regalia; mine is a white elk hide dress with fifty pounds of beads stiched on it. Alot of weight since Im over seventy.

Kateri lived in perilous times. If the weather (winters were MUCH worse…global warming isnt bad for everybody) didnt kill you, your food might unless you were good with a bow and arrow against 8oo lbs of bear or moose. There were no hospitals to help us with the new diseases…many children died young. So she died so young, but lived high and great with her faith. We, too live in perilous times. Our countries are losing their souls…a new death threat stalks our young, that of soul loss. with secularism, drugs, alcohol and moral collapse we are in greater peril and maybe prayers of intercession to our dear sister will help our ones here on Turtle Island.

What a great and informative post!

THanks so much for sharing,.

May God bless you and your friends as you head to Rome.

 

[Denise1957]

Im over 70 so good luck with this, the only url I had in my favs files:

catholocism.org/joseph-chihwatenha-red-man-without-a-cause.html

I found alot of stuff at a canadian library website, looking up the Jesuit Relations, Each Jesuit wrote in French in these little black note books until they got a new one from a boat coming in. The finished Relations (ree lay see owns) were sent to the motherhouse in France. In those I saw the vision recorded by Jean de Brebeuf.

All the info I had, including a paper written by a university Professor, I sent the originals to Rome and the copies to our wonderful young Bishop Sample. I am old and have Lupus, severe heart defects, asthma etc etc and not long to live, so I was clearing alot of this stuff out and dont have any hardcopies. Its our custom to prepare yourself and the home when you are getting ready to “leave”. I dont see alot of preparation for this important event amoung other cultures. Its a good feeling to divest ones self of :“stuff”, makes traveling light and the mind at peace.

Thanks. I’ll do a bit of research on my own. Sorry to see that you have so many heath problems. I’ll say a prayer or two for you, even though it looks as if you have prepared yourself. God bless!

 

[Tampa_Dave]

The Canonization of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (the first Native American Saint) is to take place in Rome on Oct. 21,2012. For more info go to www,cccb.ca and look for the link on the right side of the home page.

Good for her!

 

[rlg94086]

Typical. A beautiful new saint and all the replies are bickering about who she belongs to. Well she belongs to none of the above. She is a Mohawk-Huron CATHOLIC, belonging to the Church first. She was born on Turtle Island which is what we call N. America. We (Anishnabe, “first men”) do NOT recognize the dotted line that causes arguments and separates our families as all of us along the “border” marry from both countries.

The canadians (like my Grandmother, a Chippewa) can come into the usa without a greencard and work and live here. We who live in the usa can NOT go into canada with our beadwork and live and work there. This is because the US, britain and the First Nations made a treaty called the JAY treaty to agree with the boundries for us and britain but not for us, we never agreed to this so we were allowed to have total access to come and go as we always had. Our argument is that almost all of us agree that the land belongs to the Creator and we only are stewards of it and as such cant divvy it up. Land is held in commen. Later when canada became a country they slapped us all in the face by not observing the JAY treaty since britain signed it and NOT canada!

The terms first nations and native americans are legal designations. Both are ok with us and we know what you mean. Better than AB-original, like we just fell out of a tree. We call our own selves by tribal names such as Lakota, “friend” or Anishnabe"first Man". First man was up in heaven with God and saw Him make a beautiful world and asked to be put down here to live…(been regretting that ever since, LOL).

The French and our dear Jesuits were here first and long. The sad way the Jesuits were martyred along the St Lawrence is why Kateri left that area for the peaceful, probably Huron village. In 1641, our chiefs met some Jesuits and asked them to come here, teach us and show us their religion. In 1668 they did and built the Holy Name of Mary church. These saintly men gave us the skills we needed to go into the future armed with knowledge. We loved the french. They ate our food without complaint, they dressed like us, they worked along side us as voyageurs…they married our women only before their priests, whereas the english treated unions casually and often abandoned wife and children when their tour was up. We called french the "singing language’ and learned that with ojibway and english. (see Loon Feather by Iola Fuller).

Along with the seven north american martyrs there was an Indian man named Joseph C. who was martyered with his wife and two children for being Catholic. Kateri would have ended up like that also. When Jean de Brebeof heard of his death he had a vision that angels came down with a white sheet and placed him and his family on it and took them up to heaven. One of the popes even said, he should have been canonized as well…

Juan Diegos Indian name was Speaking Eagle. That is how we address him in prayer.

45 of us from Upper Michigan will be going to Rome to honor our sister in October. Please pray for a safe trip.This includes a priest who is from our tribe. We will be wearing Regalia; mine is a white elk hide dress with fifty pounds of beads stiched on it. Alot of weight since Im over seventy.

Kateri lived in perilous times. If the weather (winters were MUCH worse…global warming isnt bad for everybody) didnt kill you, your food might unless you were good with a bow and arrow against 8oo lbs of bear or moose. There were no hospitals to help us with the new diseases…many children died young. So she died so young, but lived high and great with her faith. We, too live in perilous times. Our countries are losing their souls…a new death threat stalks our young, that of soul loss. with secularism, drugs, alcohol and moral collapse we are in greater peril and maybe prayers of intercession to our dear sister will help our ones here on Turtle Island.

Thank you for your witness! I will be praying for Kateri’s intercession for you and the rest of the travellers.

I agree with you 100% that she is a saint from the Americas…just as Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe are American saints. There is no reason for any of us to bicker over geography, as the whole world belongs to Our Lord.

 

[Elizium23]

Oh I forgot until reading this thread. Kateri Tekakwitha is going to be canonized this Friday!

Actually, it is expected on Sunday, October 21.

 

[Rich_Olszewski]

I visited the Shrine of North American Martyrs in Auriesville NY. It was a great trip.

Scenically marvelous where it is - high on the bluffs above the Mohawk Valley. When I was in high school in NYC, several high schools chartered a railroad train (there were that many pilgrims that chartering buses would have been unfeasible) that took us early in the morning up the Hudson Valley and then to the south side of the Mohawk Valley (the mainline is on the north side of the river). We then walked up the hill (!) to the Shrine.

One has to be profoundly moved by being in the very place where the Jesuit martyrs lived, proselytized, served, and finally, were murdered. (The Iroquois were fiercely hostile to white man and non-Iroquois red man alike). I’ve been there several times subsequently, but no visit matched the sense of awe and respect that that first one did.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Scenically marvelous where it is - high on the bluffs above the Mohawk Valley. When I was in high school in NYC, several high schools chartered a railroad train (there were that many pilgrims that chartering buses would have been unfeasible) that took us early in the morning up the Hudson Valley and then to the south side of the Mohawk Valley (the mainline is on the north side of the river). We then walked up the hill (!) to the Shrine.

One has to be profoundly moved by being in the very place where the Jesuit martyrs lived, proselytized, served, and finally, were murdered. (The Iroquois were fiercely hostile to white man and non-Iroquois red man alike). I’ve been there several times subsequently, but no visit matched the sense of awe and respect that that first one did.

When I visited the Shrine of North American Martyrs, I had just finished reading the book, “Saint Among Savages: The Life of St. Isaac Jogues,” by Francis Talbot.

At the gift shop I noticed the book was no where in sight.

I was concerned that the author did not help promote the story with the title he chose.

Native Americans and others are obviously offended by their ancestors being referred to as “Savages.”

Jim