St. Kateri Tekakwitha
Patron Saint of Ecologists and the Environment
Born to a Christian mother, St. Kateri Tekakwitha was a Mohawk born in 1656. When she was just four years old, her parents and her brother died from smallpox, and Kateri was left severely scarred. In her teens she encountered Jesuit missionaries who introduced her to Catholicism, but her uncle who was raising her was against her conversion. So, Kateri stayed with the tribe, but tried to live a Christian life, including refusing to marry so she could live as a virgin. When she was 19, she left the tribe so she could officially convert to Catholicism and took the name Catherine in honor of St. Catherine of Siena. She spent the last five years of her life in the Jesuit mission village helping other converts and she is remembered for her perseverance for the faith despite being shunned by many members of her tribe.