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NY American Indian named a saint
Jul 27, 2012 12:03 am
Come this October, the Vatican will canonize a fourth saint from New York's Mohawk Valley. But, as Sharon Otterman reports in The New York Times, this particular canonization comes with a twist of history. Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk woman born in 1656, will be added to the list of Roman Catholic Saints. She joins three Jesuits who were murdered by Mohawk Indians they were seeking to convert a decade earlier in Kateri's home village, which was located about 40 miles west of Albany. In the Times story, Otterman notes a complex reaction to the news of the impending veneration of Kateri, particularly among American Indians. Some are proud, because Kateri was a Mohawk. Some doubt the truthfulness of her story as told by the church. Some hope the canonization will ease tensions between Catholic and traditional American Indians. And some are euphoric that the church is about to name its first American Indian saint, even if they wish it had happened sooner. Sharon Otterman's report can be found online at The New York Times.