HOME | DD

Description
Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) was born in New York to a Christian Algonquin woman and the chief of the Mohawk nation. She lost both her parents and her brother to smallpox when she was four years old. The disease left her scarred and damaged her eyes. She would later be known for the blue blanket she wore to shade her eyes from the sun. Jesuit missionaries in her village intrigued her and finally, at the age of 19, she found the courage to convert to Christianity and took the name Kateri (Catherine). Her village was hostile toward her conversion and so Kateri traveled north to a village outside of Montreal where she worked with missionaries and was free to live out her life of prayer and service. She was known to be kind, compassionate, and genuinely concerned for all people. At the age of 24, she fell ill and passed away the Wednesday of Holy Week 1680. Legend says that upon death her smallpox scars disappeared. Fr. Claude Chauchetière, who had become well acquainted with Kateri in her last days reported seeing apparitions of the young woman and decided that Kateri must be a saint. He wrote her biography where he praised her virtues, he even painted the only known portrait of the saint by the hand of someone who knew her. Chauchetière's, along with Fr. Pierre Cholenec's biographies of Kateri contributed greatly toward her canonization which occurred in 2012. She is the first Native American person to be named a saint.

I based my drawing of Kateri on Chauchetière's painting. He depicts her in a white dress, beaded necklace, and a blue blanket, in contrast to many more modern depictions that dress Kateri in typical "Native American clothing". Special thanks also goes out to @delphinaroseart who did extensive research into the saint's actual appearance and who was kind enough to share her knowledge with me. I omitted her scars on purpose, rather choosing to depict a version of Kateri who has already been fully restored in heaven.

Description
Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) was born in New York to a Christian Algonquin woman and the chief of the Mohawk nation. She lost both her parents and her brother to smallpox when she was four years old. The disease left her scarred and damaged her eyes. She would later be known for the blue blanket she wore to shade her eyes from the sun. Jesuit missionaries in her village intrigued her and finally, at the age of 19, she found the courage to convert to Christianity and took the name Kateri (Catherine). Her village was hostile toward her conversion and so Kateri traveled north to a village outside of Montreal where she worked with missionaries and was free to live out her life of prayer and service. She was known to be kind, compassionate, and genuinely concerned for all people. At the age of 24, she fell ill and passed away the Wednesday of Holy Week 1680. Legend says that upon death her smallpox scars disappeared. Fr. Claude Chauchetière, who had become well acquainted with Kateri in her last days reported seeing apparitions of the young woman and decided that Kateri must be a saint. He wrote her biography where he praised her virtues, he even painted the only known portrait of the saint by the hand of someone who knew her. Chauchetière's, along with Fr. Pierre Cholenec's biographies of Kateri contributed greatly toward her canonization which occurred in 2012. She is the first Native American person to be named a saint.

I based my drawing of Kateri on Chauchetière's painting. He depicts her in a white dress, beaded necklace, and a blue blanket, in contrast to many more modern depictions that dress Kateri in typical "Native American clothing". Special thanks also goes out to @delphinaroseart who did extensive research into the saint's actual appearance and who was kind enough to share her knowledge with me. I omitted her scars on purpose, rather choosing to depict a version of Kateri who has already been fully restored in heaven.