Kateri Tekakwitha - Cultural References

Cultural References

The historian K. I. Koppedrayer has suggested that the Catholic Church fathers' hagiography of Tekakwitha reflected "some of the trials and rewards of the European presence in the New World." Based on accounts from two Jesuit priests who knew her, at least 300 books have been published in more than 20 languages on the life of Kateri Tekakwitha.

In addition, Tekakwitha has been featured in novels:

  • Leonard Cohen, Beautiful Losers (1966);
  • William Vollman, Fathers and Crows (1992), second novel of the Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes series, includes her as a character, together with French colonists and priests.

Tekakwitha is also a very important figure at Camp Ondessonk, a catholic youth camp in southern Illinois. One of the cabin units in which campers stay is named after her. She is also one of the namesakes of Camp Ondessonk's honor society, The Lodges of Ondessonk and Tekakwitha.

Read more about this topic:  Kateri Tekakwitha

Famous quotes containing the word cultural:

    To begin to use cultural forces for the good of our daughters we must first shake ourselves awake from the cultural trance we all live in. This is no small matter, to untangle our true beliefs from what we have been taught to believe about who and what girls and women are.
    Jeanne Elium (20th century)