St. Kateri: Faith and the Preservation of Cultural Heritage

Happy holidays everyone! This month I’m focusing on local artist Diane and her painting of St. Kateri: Lilly of the Mohawks. I want to preface by saying that much like Kateri, Diane struggled in the creation of this piece. St. Kateri existed at a time before there was access to photography or accurate ways of recording information, other than by word of mouth; so not many people know what she truly looked like. While Diane struggled to envision the face of Kateri, she prayed about it and spent a month working on her painting, but many months beforehand searching for inspiration and reading a book about her life, before she was able and prepared to get started. She looked for inspiration all around her and while at church one morning, she was inspired by the image of a woman reading the gospel, using her as part of the model image for Kateri. After finding this inspiration and praying about it, Diane said that a sense of peace came over her and she was given the focus she needed to see the face of Kateri clear in her mind, and find the strength needed to finish her masterpiece.

St. Kateri, also known as Lilly of the Mohawks, helped bridge the gap between Christianity and her native American roots. Born in 1656, in present day New York, Kateri embraced Christianity at the age of 19 and was baptized in the Catholic Faith. Her newfound faith and Spiritual journey gave her solace among a life of extreme hardship, marked by the death of her brother and parents from smallpox, which also gave her lifelong scars and impaired eyesight. Kateri had a profound influence on young believers, challenging the old beliefs that cultural heritage and Catholicism cannot live in the same space.

Despite these old beliefs, Kateri demonstrated, through her actions and words, that Native American spirituality and Catholicism can coexist and flourish together. She had a deep respect for her Mohawk heritage while adopting Christian values, creating a unique spiritual identity; this unique integration encouraged others in her community to explore faith without abandoning their cultural heritage. Kateri’s faith resonated in every aspect of her life as she helped preserve Native American history by capturing and highlighting their unique experiences during colonial times. She also promoted reconciliation, forgiveness and peace in a time of division and turmoil among her tribe and early American settlers, showing that respect and understanding for each other can outweigh and overcome our differences. Kateri especially resonated with young women struggling to find their voice and purpose at a time when women had little autonomy over their own lives. Leading by example, she empowered women to find their own paths in community leadership, as well as an identity that is embodied in faith, courage, and overcoming adversity. At a time when life was steeped in hardship, Kateri was a role model of strength, spiritual leadership, and empowerment through faith. Despite her many challenges, Kateri never lost faith, but overcame her trials by standing firm in Christ, embodying strength and being forthright in resilience. Many centuries after her death, Kateri was canonized a saint in the Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. This historic event reached beyond her own small community and expanded throughout the world and in the Catholic Church specifically, highlighting how indigenous people have contributed to the Catholic Church's history, while also helping to heal historical wounds caused by colonization and cultural suppression. Through her steadfast faith among hardship, her identity as an influence and leader among young women, and having pride in her native American heritage, showed the great diversity and strength that emboldens both our community and our faith. St. Kateri is truly a role model that we should imitate today, as a Native American figure who embraced faith without losing her own unique identity.

If you are interested in purchasing Diane's beautiful painting of St. Kateri, feel free to contact me via this blog ✍️ Check out more of Diane's artwork, by following the link below!

Museum Contempo