1656-1680. The first Native American beatified (the step before full sainthood) by the Roman Catholic Church. Her father was Mohawk ("Kateri" is the Mohawk equivalent of "Catherine") and her mother, a Christian, was
Algonquin. Raised by foster parents after the death of her family to smallpox, she ran away to Quebec (helped by Jesuit missionaries) to escape their anti-xian views. She died young, from frail health brought on by many acts of penance for the sins of her nation.