Tekakwitha Conference
“Tekakwitha”, the name given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, is a Mohawk expression meaning “she who puts things in place”. As the patroness of our organization and annual conference, we look to her guidance and intercession as she leads us closer to Christ. In terms of our faith as Native American Catholics, Saint Kateri’s constant intercession has paved the way for other causes for canonization. At last year’s 80th Annual Tekakwitha Conference, there was an invigorated interest in the causes of Nicholas Black Elk, the Martyrs of La Florida, as well as the holy and venerable lives of Pablo Tac and Joseph Chiwatenhwa, to name a few. In Saint Kateri, indigenous peoples from across North America began seeing themselves represented to a greater degree among the canon of Saints. Her canonization shed a new, retroactive light on the indigenous heritage of Saint Juan Diego, named Cuauhtlatoatzin prior to his baptism and conversion.
At the Tekakwitha Conference the religious, cultural, and catechetical items and resources are consciously selected before acquisition. The grant funding which comes from the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions supports the Tekakwitha Conference’s ability to acquire new resources and to restock existing resources when supply becomes diminished. In this way, the Tekakwitha Conference continues to promote the men and women whose lives serve as models of holiness and sacrifice in the face of insurmountable challenges. In recent months, the Tekakwitha Conference has restocked its shelves with books on Nicholas Black Elk and added new books on Pablo Tac and the story of Saint Juan Diego & Our Lady of Guadalupe, as told from a native perspective. The Tekakwitha Conference has also invested in resources which tell the stories of earlier efforts of evangelization by religious orders among North America’s indigenous population. One book, in particular, “Converting the Rosebud: Catholic Mission and the Lakotas” recounts some of these missionary endeavors.
The growing interest in these other causes and potential future native saints does not distract or dilute from the Tekakwitha Conference’s devotion to its patroness, Saint Kateri, rather it enriches that devotion. The ongoing ministry of the Tekakwitha Conference strives to equip leaders in the Native Catholic community. Without the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, these efforts and initiatives would not be possible. This grant funding enables our mission to help those we serve to see themselves in Saint Kateri and all the other holy indigenous men and women. St. Kateri Tekakwitha is one of the first Native American saints to be recognized in the Catholic Church, but she is not the only one. The work of the Tekakwitha Conference aims to posit Saint Kateri as the one who leads the way, as the one who has put things in order to show that we are all meant to be saints.
