Indian Pilgrims: Indigenous Journeys of Activism and Healing with Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Critical Issues in Indigenous Studies

by Michelle M. Jacob

In 2012 Kateri Tekakwitha became the first North American Indian to be canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, an event that American Indian Catholics have awaited for generations. Saint Kateri, known as the patroness of the environment, was born in 1656 near present-day Albany, New York, to an Algonquin mother and a Mohawk father. Tekakwitha converted to Christianity at age nineteen and took a vow of perpetual virginity. Her devotees have advocated for her sainthood since her death in 1680. Within historical Catholic writings, Tekakwitha is portrayed as a model of pious, submissive femininity. Indian Pilgrims moves beyond mainstream narratives and shows that Saint Kateri is a powerful feminine figure who inspires decolonizing activism in contemporary Indigenous peoples’ lives.

Author Michelle M. Jacob examines Saint Kateri’s influence on and relation to three important themes—caring for the environment, building community, and reclaiming the Native feminine as sacred—and brings a Native feminist perspective to the story of Saint Kateri. The book demonstrates the power and potential of Indigenous decolonizing activism, as Saint Kateri’s devotees claim the space of the Catholic Church to revitalize traditional cultural practices, teach and learn Indigenous languages, and address critical issues such as protecting Indigenous homelands from environmental degradation. The book is based on ethnographic research at multiple sites, including Saint Kateri’s 2012 canonization festivities in Vatican City and Italy, the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation (New York and Canada), the Yakama Reservation (Washington), and the National Tekakwitha Conferences in Texas, North Dakota, and Louisiana. Through narratives from these events, Jacob addresses issues of gender justice—such as respecting the autonomy of women while encouraging collectivist thinking and strategizing—and seeks collective remedies that challenge colonial and capitalist filters.
 

Genres: Catholic

200 pages, Hardcover

Published October 4, 2016

Reviews

[David Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting little book about a community, St Kateri devotees within the Catholic Church, which is presented as a hybrid Catholic-Indigenous movement focused on environmental justice issues, in particular those issues confronting Indigenous nations (eg, mining and pipelines). As a portrayal of Indigenous Christianity, Indian Pilgrims succeeds revealing through anecdotal evidence the ways in which participants in the annual National Tekakwitha Conference (NTC) earnestly express their dual faith in this Catholic saint (Kateri) and Indigenous ways. Since the NTC is a Catholic organization devoted to a Catholic saint, the references to Indigenous beliefs and values takes on a pan-Indian tone (note the references to Black Elk). Also, while Jacob is sincere, even passionate, about promoting the Tekakwithat movement within the Catholic Church as a future for Indigenous environmentalism, not to mention Native Feminism, her discourse fails to convince the reader that the persons she interviewed at the NTC are as radical as she thinks they are (see the stories about Sister Clissene Lewis, founder of Little Servants of the Cross and Hazel and Vi, founders of Native Blessing Way). These women are pretty conservative and a-political, not the kind of persons you think of when you think of people addressing, say, gender and race bias in the Catholic Church. In addition to not criticizing anyone or anything about the NTC, Jacob was also insensitive to how her interviewees spoke about themselves and Kateri. Consequently, the references to Andrea Smith, Dian Million, and Winona LaDuke, even to Vine Deloria Jr and George Tinker, fall flat. Speaking of which, if Jacob is going to talk about recovering the feminine sacred, then she needs to read Paula Gunn Allen's 'The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions'. It would also have been wise to read Kyle Whyte's work on Indigenous environmentalism, rather than assume that no one has theorized about this before.

[Mills College Library]

299.7 J156 2016