Study Questions
Allan Greer
Mohawk Saint: Catherine Tekakwitha and the Jesuits
- Why was the death of the Indian a major theme of Jesuit writings from New
France? And why was the death of the Jesuit missionary another? How
did Iroquois deal with and mourn death? How did the French experience of
death and mourning differ? What confirmed Catherine's holiness in the mind
of Claude Chauchetière?
- Why did Mohawks capture enemy people? What was their fate? How was
Catherine affected by smallpox and what sort of person did she become?
Describe the roles and responsibilities of Mohawk women. How did Catherine
become Catholic and what was the experience like? Why did she move from
Gandaouagué to Kahnawake?
- Describe Chauchetière's background and
upbringing in Poitiers. Describe the effects of the Counter-Reformation in
the region. Characterize the origins, activities, and purposes of the Jesuit
order. What sort of religious training and mystical experiences did
Chauchetière have? Why did he decide to
become a missionary, and why to Canada? Describe the sort of experience and
career did he have after he arrived there.
- What is a habitant? How did the Chrisitian-Indian communities of
La Prairie/Kentake and Sault Saint Louis/Kahnawake come to be? What was
religious life like in Kahnawake, and what were the roles of the priests?
From an Iroquois point of view, what advantages might one gain by converting
to Christianity? Why would one retain many non-Christian practices? Give
examples of Indian religious practices that persevered after conversion.
- What sort of "societies" did village women form, and what sort of
"austerities" and "penances" did they undergo? How might they have
understood them from an Iroquois perspective, in contrast with the Jesuit
understanding of them? Out of what motives or meanings might one pursue
self-mortification?
- How did Catherine learn about Christianity at Kahnawake? Describe her
religious behavior, interests, and activities. What was the significance of
the hunting trip? How did Indian women probably learn about Christian
ascetic-mystical practices for women, and how did Catherine learn about and
apply them? What was she seeking and what did she achieve?
- How did Catherine become venerated as a saint? What sort of miracles
occurred in her name? What was Chauchetière's
role in promoting them? Which people sought cures from Catherine, and which
did not? Why was there this difference in attitude towards Catherine?
Explain how Indian and European healing and medicine worked differently. How
did her fame spread more widely? Why was she not officially made a saint at
this time?
- How did Pierre Cholenec's biography of Catherine differ from that by
Chauchetière? Why did he emphasize her
virginity so much? What was the possible significance of the extensive
tangent about Tegaiaguenta's tragic hunting party? Why was Catherine's story
reprinted in Spanish in Mexico?
- Explain the timing and motivations of the movements for Catherine's
sainthood in the late nineteenth century. How has her image and meaning
changed as new groups (like the Walworths and Pueblo Indian women) have
adopted her? How do children's books present her now? Why have some Indians
refused to honor her?
Last updated:
Wednesday, December 03, 2014 09:08 AM