Dorothy Whitehorse Delaune is an enrolled citizen of the Kiowa Tribe and a member of the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church Kateri Circle in Anadarko, Okla.. She is standing in front of the parish’s shrine to Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, who will be canonized in an upcoming ceremony of the Roman Catholic Church. PHOTO BY BRIAN DAFFRONANADARKO, Okla. – December 19, 2011 saw the signing of a decree by the Vatican officially recognizing the miracle of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, with an official date for canonization in the near future. This will make Blessed Kateri (1656-1680) of the Mohawk and Algonquin
Nations, to be the first Native American saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

Blessed Kateri, listed as an “American layperson” on the Vatican Radio website, survived smallpox as a child, which left her disfigured and with impaired vision. She reached beatified status in 1980 under Pope John Paul II. The recognized miracle attributed to Blessed Kateri is the healing of Jake Finkbonner of Ferndale, Wash. Finkbonner, of Lummi descent, was suffering from flesh-eating bacteria when prayer circles throughout the nation asked Kateri to intercede on his behalf.

For decades, many Catholic parishes with Native American populations have had “Kateri Circle” chapters to pray for her canonization, holding annual conferences that celebrate both Blessed Kateri’s life and Native American culture. One of these is in St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Anadarko, Oklahoma.

“When I received the news, I prayed and then went to our parish to pray at our Blessed Kateri shrine,” said St. Patrick’s Indian Mission Kateri Circle member Dorothy Whitehorse Delaune. “There aren’t many of our original members left. My great-granddaughter and I went to the church to give thanks. Her first name is Kateri.”

Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church has a unique history among Catholic boarding schools in Indian Country. Founded by Father Isidore Ricklin, O.S.B. in the early 1890’s, St. Patrick’s Indian Mission served Southwest Oklahoma as both a school and parish through the early 1960’s.

Ricklin, the founder, had a strong relationship with the Native people of Southwest Oklahoma, who include the Kiowa, Comanche, Apache, Fort Sill Apache, Wichita, Caddo and Delaware. Native elders still tell stories of Senpaul Zelbe –“Terrible Whiskers” as the Kiowa called Ricklin – participating in peyote meetings and other ceremonials, traveling by wagon. For decades, Native students of St. Patrick’s toured the country as a dance troupe, performing traditional dances as a way to raise funds for the mission.

“I can’t help but think that the Kateri Circle members who have passed on helped give a push for her sainthood,” said Delaune. “Aho Dauqi.” (Kiowa for “Thank you, God.”)