Kateri Tekakwitha

European fur traders settled Newfoundland during the early 1600s, and by 1642 French settlers and Jesuits had established a firm foothold along the St. Lawrence River at Quebec and Montreal. In 1676 a French Jesuit baptized the daughter of an Algonquin Indian woman, naming the girl Kateri. Already in poor health after surviving a smallpox epidemic, Kateri discerned her vocation to care for orphans and elderly people, Indian and French, at St. Francis Xavier mission near Montreal. Long hours of prayer and penance contributed to her poor health, and in 1680 Kateri died at age 24. She was beatified in 1980, making Kateri one of two American Indians recognized as candidates for canonization.

Sources: McBrien, Richard P. ed. The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1995. Pp 1243-1244.