St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Today is the Memorial of Algonquin-Mohawk Kateri Tekakwitha who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.  Living from 1656-1680 she survived small pox; was baptized as a Roman Catholic; subsequently was shunned by her tribe; and lived the last years of her life south of Montreal.  She was known as the Lily of the Mohawks perhaps because she professed a vow of chastity. 

The Mohawks were one of the nations that made up the Iroquois Six Nations, including the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas.  The Mohawks were the eastern-most tribe.

Little appreciated by most Americans transplanted from other nations as immigrants seeking religious and political freedom (as well as profit), the Iroquois helped shape our nation’s democracy.  According to Bruce Johansen in his 1982 book Forgotten Founders, “…We must be ready to acknowledge that American Indian societies were as thoughtfully constructed and historically significant to our present as the Romans, the Greeks, and other Old World peoples…The Iroquois were not the only American Indians to develop notions of federalism, political liberty, and democracy long before they heard of the Greeks or the Magna Carta.  Benjamin Franklin was not the only Euro-American to combine his own heritage with what he found in his new homeland.  And the infant United States was not the only nation whose course has been profoundly influenced by the ideas of the Indians, the forgotten cofounders of our heritage.”

Of special note, “Checks and balances in the Iroquoian system acted to prevent concentration of power.  The Iroquois maximized individual freedom while seeking to minimize excess governmental interference in people’ lives.   The Iroquois Confederacy contained the ‘germ of modern parliament, congress, and legislature.”   Gee-whiz, who knew that today we’d be wondering how we could lose what our forefathers had patterned after the Iroquois.

I guess we should thank the Mohawks with St. Kateri Tekakwitha being the one we Catholics remember the most.   Of course, the Mohawks and all the Iroquois won’t thank us.  Consider our first reading from Isaiah: “…Your hands are full of blood!  Wash yourselves clean!  Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good.  Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow...”

Our history of dealing with Native Americans is a sordid one.   Since Europeans first set forth in North America (as well as Central and South America), justice has been in short supply.  Jesus would not have approved of Christians exploiting and persecuting with hands full of Native American blood.   Having Native Americans as saints (just a few) is a good thing, but it’s no substitute for washing ourselves clean.  

Perhaps Bishop Edgar Moreira da Cunha, who takes the reins from Bishop Coleman in September, will help with the wash.  Brazilian born and fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish, he may have a special affinity for the dispossessed and persecuted, especially immigrants who reside throughout our Diocese.  

May St. Tekakwitha preserve and protect him.

Deacon David Pierce