Kateri Tekakwitha

Kateri Tekakwitha (pronounced [ˈɡaderi deɡaˈɡwita] in Mohawk), given the name Tekakwitha (Tekaouïta, baptized as Catherine ("Kateri" in Mohawk), known as Lily of the Mohawks (1656 – April 17, 1680) and Protectress of Canada, also as Geneviève of New France/ Geneviève of Canada was a Mohawk/Algonquin Catholic layperson and virgin known for her devotion to Jesus Christ, refusal of marriage, skillful and diligent work ethic, and dedicated prayer for the conversion of faith for her fellow Native people and for the care of God's natural creation on Earth. Born in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, in present-day New York, she contracted smallpox in an epidemic; her family died and her face was scarred. She converted to Catholicism at age 19. She took a vow of perpetual virginity, left her village, and moved for the remaining five years of her life to the Jesuit mission village of Kahnawake, just south of Montreal. 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. She is the first Native American person to be canonized into the Roman Catholic Church.