Kateri = symbol of colonization

1st Native American saint stirs pride, skepticism

By Mary EschSister Jennifer Votraw is director of communications for the Ogdensburg Diocese in northern New York, where the Mohawk reservation is located. While the diocese doesn't provide direct pastoral care to the Mohawks, Votraw belongs to the order the Sisters of St. Joseph, nuns who regularly aid the priests who minister to the tribe. She said years of successful interactions between the church and the tribe demonstrate a mutual respect for each other.

Still, she knows there are traditional Mohawks who will never be swayed in their view of the church and may resent Kateri's canonization as a ploy to improve the church's image among Native Americans.

"They believe very firmly in their religion, which is Mohawk," she said. "You just have to respect that."

Orenda Boucher, a Mohawk humanities professor at Kiana Institution, a Native American college near Montreal, said there are "mixed feelings" and no easy answer to the question of what Kateri represents to Mohawks or the rest of the world.

"A lot of my friends who are traditionalists see Kateri as tied into the story of colonization that has deeply affected Kahnawake, and to the atrocities of the church," she said.

Boucher said to understand the complexities of Kateri's life, it's important for people to look beyond the biographies written by clergymen who focus on what they consider her Christian virtues.

George-Kanentiio said traditional Iroquois worry that Kateri's sainthood could be used as way to encourage Native Americans to eschew their ancestral values for Catholic dogma.

"It should never obscure the best elements of our aboriginal spirituality, nor should Kateri's personal behaviors, given their extremities, be endorsed as a model for women anywhere," he said, referring to her self-mutilation with whips, thorns and hot coals.

"Women in particular need not kneel in supplication to any man or any god but to rise to dance and sing in true joy," he said. "We can never accept any institution which actively suppresses women or qualifies their potential."'It's the same great spirit'

Canonization of Kateri is a big step toward true reconciliation, but the embrace could go further

By Wab KinewYet even as indigenous North Americans are celebrated by the church, there are signs the embrace could go further. During his remarks, the Pope noted that although Saint Kateri "worked, faithful to the traditions of her people," she "renounc[ed] their religious convictions."

The church views indigenous cultures as merely a host for the Catholic religion. This approach is called "acculturation" by Catholic missionaries. As one priest explains in the new film In Her Footsteps: The Story of Kateri Tekakwitha, acculturation is the process where the local culture becomes like a "prism" through which the "truth" of the gospel is revealed.

Talking to many of the indigenous people at the canonization ceremony, many of them residential school survivors, I don't think this is what they have in mind. They speak of embracing Catholicism, but also of practising their traditional spirituality. It is precisely this pluralistic approach that made the inclusion of smudging and indigenous language so important to them. It is that same reason that motivated so many of them to wear their traditional clothing to Vatican City.

As Chief Littlechild says: "We can have both spiritual beliefs, although it's the same great spirit and the same Creator."

There was much talk from church officials this week about how Kateri's sainthood opens the doors for new forms of evangelism. Pope Benedict himself called for a "renewal of faith in the First Nations." This misses an opportunity.

The truth about reconciliation is this: It is not a second chance at assimilation. It should not be a kinder, gentler evangelism, free from the horrors of the residential school era. Rather, true reconciliation is a second chance at building a mutually respectful relationship.

While the Vatican may not yet treat it as such, many of the Aboriginal delegates in Rome this week do. They speak about new beginnings, healing and moving on. In a quiet courtyard in Vatican City at a post-canonization reception, Littlechild says, "I've forgiven, even more now, I think. For myself, the experiences that I've had, but also for my family."Comment:  The basic question here is whether the Church has embraced the idea of respect and partnership with Native cultures. Or whether the Church thinks the good little Indians should give up their pagan practices and join a "real" religion.

The evidence suggests the latter more than the former. For instance:



For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Movies.

Below:  Chief Littlechild. (Wab Kinew)

Nun wears headdress at canonization

Getting even more publicity than Kateri Tekakwitha's canonization was this photograph taken at the scene:



"Nuns held images of Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American to achieve sainthood, as they waited for the start of a canonization ceremony celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, in St. Peter's Square on Sunday." (Andrew Medichini/Associated Press)

Most of the Natives I know were incredulous about this. Some comments from the F.A.I.R. MEDIA (For Accurate Indigenous Representation) page on Facebook:First they make an idol of our ancestor then this multi coloured eagle feather bonnet...sheesh.

While i'm sure she thought she was paying tribute it just shows what kind of stereotypes still exist in our world.

Talk about cultural insensitivity...and ignorance....

WTH! Does the Church really think dressing up a nun like she's entering a Brazilian parade is the correct protocol for celebrating a Mohawk woman??? Geeeezh!

The Catholic Church has demonstrated again and again that their interest in Indigenous cultures extends only to finding ways to convert--with a view to accessing Indigenous lands and resources.

The Catholic Church again...so offensive....Soon their day will come..down with religion and separatism...up with humanity and respect for the down-pressed people of the world....

It also shows their arrogance. How untouchable they are that they can do whatever they feel under "God's OK."

WOW this hurts.

Sick bastards...this is what I have been saying about the Church. See how sensitive they are to other cultures. Waiting for the black face paint next. I wonder if she realized that she forgot the war paint? What an ass.

There are so many things wrong here. Why. Just why.

This has just given millions of Catholics licence to engage in garish cultural appropriation. This will make the struggle against "Dressing up as Indians" at Halloween--all the more harder. This is a huge set back.

Wow. Just wow. Lots of work to be done in educating an unbelievably ignorant world.Comment:  Activists often call for boycotts in situations like this. Can we boycott the Pope?

Ironically, the nun is holding an illustration of Kateri. This illustration may not be accurate, but clearly it looks nothing like the nun in her get-up. The nun would have to be an idiot to be oblivious to the stereotyping she's doing.

In related news, Indians say they'll dress up as a priest and pretend to molest altar boys the next time a Catholic official visits them. Because the nun's blatant Native stereotyping deserves a response in kind.

Someone should write a letter to the Associated Press and ask them to pull this photo. The AP is a primary source of photos for thousands of newspapers and websites. This photo will be the "face" of the canonization while it's in the news, and whenever it's retrieved from the archives.

For more on Kateri Tekakwitha, see Playing Indian to Celebrate Kateri and Indians Attend Vatican Canonization Ceremony.

Playing Indian to celebrate Kateri

Celebrate Blessed Kateri’s Canonization with Kids!

By LacyThe date of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha’s canonization is going to be October 21, 2012! (Yay!) The cool thing about soon-to-be-Saint Kateri is that she was Native American. This opens up all kinds of crafting possibilities! Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha’s feast day is July 14. We made some fun, Native American dress up crafts to celebrate St. Kateri’s canonization with my kids!

We were inspired by some crafts over on Catholic Inspired. Jennifer has directions on how to make this Native American vest, Christian symbols headband (with free download), and this Cross and Beads necklace. Aren’t they cute?! We also made an Indian vest from paper grocery bags, and a Native American headband to match.Debbie Reese's response in her American Indians in Children's Literature blog:The Catholics-playing-Indian activities are well-intentioned, but ignorant and ought to be set aside. As a society, we need not do these sorts of activities. We see it a lot in the context of "Indian" mascots for sports teams. There's a lot more awareness of stereotyping in that context, and a lot of schools have abandoned those stereotypical mascots. That same awareness--apparently--needs to be developed amongst Catholics who dress their kids up in stereotypical attire to be "Saint Kateri."Comment:  Reese is more polite than I'd be. This activity is stupid and ignorant.

As Lacy should know, playing dress up is wrong when adults do it and it's wrong when kids do it. The actual Kateri didn't look like this, so the costume is stereotypical and insulting to Indians.

For more on Indian wannabes, see Sumter Native American Family Tribe and British "Apache" Is an Embarrassment.

Pope canonizes Kateri Tekakwitha

Pope names first Native American saint

Kateri Tekakwitha among seven new saints celebrated by crowd of 80,000 in St Peter's SquareEighty thousand pilgrims, many in flowered lei, feathered headdresses and other traditional attire, gathered in St Peter's Square on Sunday as the pope added seven more saints to the Catholic roster in an attempt to reinvigorate the faith in parts of the world where it is lagging. One of the seven, Kateri Tekakwitha, will be the first Native American saint to be canonised.

In his homily, Benedict praised each of the seven as heroic and courageous examples for the church, calling Kateri an inspiration to indigenous faithful across North America. "May the witness of these new saints … speak today to the whole church, and may their intercession strengthen and sustain her in her mission to proclaim the gospel to the whole world," he said.

The celebrations began at dawn, with Native Americans in beaded and feathered headdresses and leather-fringed tunics singing songs to the beat of drums. Later, the crowds cheered as the pope read out the names of each of the new saints in Latin and declared that they were worthy of veneration by the entire church. Prayers were read out in Mohawk and Cebuano, the dialect of another saint, Pedro Calungsod, a 17th-century Filipino teenage martyr, and in English by a nun wearing a lei.

"It's so nice to see God showing all the flavours of the world," said Gene Caldwell, a Native American member of the Menominee reservation in Neopit, Wisconsin, who attended with his wife, Linda. "The Native Americans are enthralled" to have Kateri canonised, he said.Pope names first Native American saint

Pope Canonizes 7 Saints, Including 2 Women With New York Ties

Comment:  For more on Kateri Tekakwitha, see Indians Attend Vatican Canonization and Americans, Canadians Spar Over Kateri.

Indians attend Vatican canonization ceremony

Canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha Draws at Least 2,000 Mohawks to Vatican Ceremony

By Gale Courey ToensingWhat is likely to be the largest delegation of Mohawk Indians ever to assemble in Rome will take place this weekend, October 20–21, for the canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha, a 17th-century Mohawk woman.

Almost 2,000 people from Akwesasne and Kahnawake will flock to the Vatican for the ceremony that will grant sainthood to Kateri Tekakwitha, the first indigenous woman of Turtle Island to be canonized by the Catholic Church. The canonization will take place on Sunday.

About 150 people—three busloads—left for the airport a week ago, and others, like Alma and Orlo Ransom and three members of their family, were leaving on Thursday, October 18, for the ancient city.

“The Vatican is topping off what we feel by making her a saint,” Alma Ransom told Indian Country Today Media Network. She has played a critical role in the canonization effort over the years.Turtle Island Indigenous Flock to Vatican to Witness Kateri Tekakwitha’s CanonizationFrom Nova Scotia to British Columbia, and from Mohawk communities in the Northeast to the Yakama in Washington state, First Nations citizens and American Indians streamed to the Vatican in Rome this week to witness the canonization of one of their own.

Sunday October 21 is the day that Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk and Algonquin, is being granted sainthood. Though Tekakwitha’s canonization has highlighted ambivalence toward the church throughout Turtle Island, this recognition of Catholicism and Native devotion resonated among Indians and brought a few thousand of North America’s Indigenous Peoples to Rome to see for themselves the culmination of 300 years of prayers. Nearly 2,000 of them are Mohawks from both sides of the U.S.–Canadian border.

“I’m already emotional about it, just talking about being in the presence of the Pope, and [hearing him] say in his own words that Kateri is canonized, is the greatest thrill,” Grace Esquega, director of the aboriginal-focused Kitchitwa Kateri Church in Thunder Bay, Ontario, told CBC News last week. She added that she had carefully chosen her regalia and was carrying an eagle feather to the Vatican.

“Kateri’s canonization is a very significant event, not only for the Mohawk faithful, but for Native people throughout North America…and beyond,” said Kahnawake Grand Chief Delisle Jr. in a statement. “We know that there will be millions of people sharing in the celebrations of this day. The fact that a quiet and unassuming woman of peace who died so long ago will be acknowledged and remembered at this level is something we can all be proud of.”Comment:  For more on Kateri Tekakwitha, see Americans, Canadians Spar Over Kateri and Kateri Tekakwitha to Become Saint.

Below:  "Archibishop Lopez Quintano, the Apostolic Nuncio to Canada, holds a basket made by Mohawk basketmaker Sheila Ransom that will be presented to Pope Benedict XVI by the Mohawk delegation to the canonization of Kateri Takakwith. To his right in the photo are Alma and Orlo Ransom; to his left are tribal police Detective Matt Rourke and former St. Regis Mohawk Tribe Chief Wally Oaks." (Gale Courey Toensing)

Americans, Canadians spar over Kateri

Whose saint is she anyway? Americans and Canadians spar over Kateri Tekakwitha’s identity

By Jesse McLeanAre those damned Yankees trying to claim a Canadian saint for their own?

With the impending canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha, the 17-century Mohawk woman will be among the 12 Americans who have ascended to sainthood.

At least if you ask some south of the border.

Here, we know Tekakwitha as the soon-to-be first Canadian aboriginal saint, who tended to the sick and elderly at Jesuit missions outside Montreal.

Middle-aged Quebeckers may remember reading about her in their Catholic school books. One priest described her as “the protectress of Canada.”

The tiff over which country she belongs to has gone on for more than 100 years.

Known as “Lily of the Mohawks,” Tekakwitha was born in New York.

Her elevation to sainthood is already stirring talk of tourism to the villages of Fonda and Auriesville, where there are shrines dedicated to her. One of the properties houses the archeological site of where she was baptized in 1676.

The California-based website Catholic Online praised Tekakwitha as an “American religious” figure renowned for her “life’s work in rural New York.”

Yet for the deacon of St. Francis Xavier Church in Kahnawake, Que., where Tekakwitha is entombed in a marble shrine, she belongs to neither country. She is a North American native, a healer who walked the Earth before either nation had formed.Comment:  As the deacon said, it's more correct to say she's a member of neither nation. They didn't exist when she was alive, and if they had, they wouldn't have claimed her as a citizen.

For more on Kateri Tekakwitha, see Kateri Tekakwitha to Become Saint and Vatican Acknowledges Kateri Book.

Below:  "A stained-glass window featuring the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha appears in the chapel of the Newman Centre of Toronto. Though born in what is now New York State, Tekakwitha's most significant religious work was done in Quebec, at least according to Canadian accounts." (Bill Wittman/Toronto Star)

Kateri Tekakwitha to become saint

First Native American Cleared for Sainthood by VaticanThe Vatican today announced that the Mohawk-Algonquin woman born in 1656 and known as Kateri Tekakwitha has been deemed worthy of sainthood by the Pope.

Pope Benedict XVI has signed the decree recognizing a miracle performed by Kateri, and she will therefore be canonized at a ceremony sometime in the future.

According to the biography at katerishrine.com, Kateri’s father was a Mohawk chief and her mother was Algonquin (Catholic News Service specifies that her mother was also a Christian); her parents and brother died of smallpox when she was four, and the disease left her with facial disfigurements and impaired vision. She was consequently given the name “Tekakwitha,” which means “she who bumps into things.” Her uncle, who was chief of the Turtle Clan of Mohawks, adopted her. Though he is described as “bitterly opposed to Christianity,” he eventually relented, and Kateri was baptized in 1676 at the age of 20. She died four years later. The name “Kateri” is a derivation of Catherine, taken at her baptism, according to Wikipedia, as a tribute to Catherine of Siena.

Also according to Wikipedia, the process of Kateri’s canonization began in 1884; Pope Pius XII declared her venerable in 1943, and Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1980. She was at that time the first American Indian to be beatified.Kahnawake Mohawk named a saint

Kateri Tekakwitha will become North America's first aboriginal saintResidents of a Mohawk community just outside of Montreal are celebrating because a woman who lived in the area more than three centuries ago is about to be named a Roman Catholic saint.

The Vatican announced that Kateri Tekakwitha, of Kahnawake, will become North America's first aboriginal saint.

Deacon Ronald Boyer is the Canadian vice-postulator for her canonization. He has been advocating for Tekakwitha to be named a saint since 2007.

He said native people in North America have been pushing to have her declared a saint since her death, 331 years ago.Comment:  For more on Kateri Tekakwitha, see Catholics to Ban Indian Practices? and Vatican Acknowledges Kateri Book.

Catholics to ban Indian practices?

Indian church, archdiocese clash over mass elements

Archdiocese questions use of special wine.

By Rose FrenchBuffalo hide adorns the altar. Sage is burned to help cleanse the heart, soul and mind. Ojibwe and Lakota languages are used in many of the prayers and songs. Traditional Indian elements like these have been part of the worship service for decades at the Church of Gichitwaa Kateri in Minneapolis, the only Twin Cities Catholic parish with a predominantly Indian congregation.

The future use of Indian practices, however, is being questioned by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which temporarily suspended mass at the church last month after conflict arose over the use of specialized wine.

The unrest at Gichitwaa Kateri comes at a time when Pope Benedict has called for renewed emphasis on tradition and uniformity in the Catholic church, leaving churches like Kateri wondering how many, if any, of their traditions may be compromised. Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt also has a history of strongly adhering to orthodox church doctrine.

"Without question there likely will be some changes because, first and foremost, it's a Catholic mass," said Dennis McGrath, archdiocese spokesman. "And then only within that context ... can the native rituals be incorporated."A couple of comments on this article:Me, personally, I'd ask them [the church] to dump the Catholic. Look at what Catholicism had done for Native communities and keep their ceremony and their church without the Catholic church.

I totally understand there's an orthodoxy to organized religion, but--I also understand that traditions that don't change *die*, and that there might be a (huge, gaping) difference between American Catholicism + the Catholicism practiced in Europe + elsewhere.Comment:  At first I thought the headline meant mass elements like uranium and plutonium. Never mind.

"Wine may be an irreconcilable difference"...right, because Jesus insisted that we drink his blood like vampires. It's right there in the Book of Twilight.

Jesus opposes buffalo hides in multimillion-dollar cathedrals. Because when he was preaching in multimillion-dollar cathedrals, there were no buffalo hides.

Check the Bible on that if you don't believe me. No buffalo hides!

Catholics obviously disagree about the "change or die" dictum. They think they must retain the rituals they made up long after Jesus's time.

For more on Natives and Christianity, see Vatican Acknowledges Kateri Book, Landover Satirizes "Injun Sin," and America's History of Religious Intolerance.

Vatican acknowledges Kateri book

Vatican recognizes Taos artist's work

By Chandra JohnsonWhile art created in Taos has received global recognition, a Taos artist has recently drawn attention from Rome. Taos painter Giovanna Paponetti received a letter from the Vatican thanking her for sending Pope Benedict XVI a copy of her book, “Kateri: Native American Saint.”

The subject of Paponetti’s book is Kateri Tekakwitha, a Native woman who became a Catholic in the 1600s and is the only American Indian ever to be considered for sainthood. “Never in my life did I expect this,” Paponetti said of the letter.

The project included the 21 paintings featured in Paponetti’s book and took five years to complete. Each painting depicts a significant moment in Kateri’s life. All the paintings are in an 18-foothigh altar screen for a Pueblo church in Okay Owingeh, who commissioned Paponetti.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Native Saint Due to Flesh-Eating Bacteria? and Annual Blessed Kateri Mass.

Native saint due to flesh-eating bacteria?

Boy's recovery from flesh-eating bacteria could lead to American Indian saint canonization

Finkbonner family prayed when Jake had flesh-eating bacteria

By Kie Relyea[I]f the Vatican decrees that Jake Finkbonner's survival is a miracle that can be attributed to Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha's help, they also will be bound by the canonization of the first American Indian saint in the Catholic Church.

Elsa Finkbonner certainly believes her 9-year-old son's victory over necrotizing fasciitis is miraculous.

"There is no doubt in my mind that he is a miracle. He had everything going against him. There was a whole grocery list of things that should have happened against him, and he defied all of them," said Finkbonner, a Sandy Point resident.

What the Vatican will decide is whether Jake's recovery is a miracle that is beyond the explanation of medicine and that can be attributed to the intercession on his behalf by Blessed Kateri, who was born to an Algonquin mother and Mohawk father in 1656 near what is today Auriesville, N.Y.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Kateri to Join Juan Diego.

Annual Blessed Kateri Mass

Mass with a Native theme

Algonquin martyr is honored at St. ThereseThe sound of Native American drumming resonated through the St. Therese of the Child Jesus Catholic Church in Mount Airy recently. Inside there were many dressed in the full suede fringed and beaded regalia of their distinctive ethnic groups. Even the first Bible reading from the book of Isaiah was done in one of America's indigenous languages.This was the 14th Annual Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Mass. It is named for the half-Mohawk and half-Algonquin martyr who chose leave behind her Native American beliefs to embrace Christianity in the 17th Century. It was in 1980, 300 years after her death, that Tekakwitha was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, there was a full house at St. Therese for this unique Oct. 19 celebration of her life.

"I am blessed and humbled to have this event and represent the Cherokee Confederacy," said Chief Buffy Red Feather Brown in her concluding remarks. "We welcome the Cherokee Sisters circle of drummers here to St. Therese We are here representing many nations."

Brown then traced the legacy of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha from her refusal to back down from her faith despite persecution to her entry into religious life.Comment:  For contrasting viewpoints on the subject, see Native Religions Dead and Gone? and What's So Blessed About Kateri?

Kateri to join Juan Diego?

Catholics seek sainthood for Native womanCatholics in Canada are seeking sainthood for an Athabascan woman who died in 1949.

Rose Prince was from the Dakelh First Nation in British Columbia. She died from tuberculosis at the age of 34 and was buried near a Native residential school.

Catholics say her grave is the source of miracles. They have been making pilgrimages to the site since the 1990s.

The Catholic Church has canonized Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Aztec man who lived in Mexico in the 1500s, as a saint. Kateri Tekwakitha, 17th-century Mohawk woman from New York, has been beatified, a step below sainthood.