St. Kateri Tekakwitha

19th or 20th century
Stained glass window
Basilica of Notre-Dame de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec

The saint lived the last years of her short life as a Christian convert in Kahnawake, a Jesuit mission village near Montreal. I have not yet discovered the significance of the tree trunk to which she gestures in this image.

This window resides in the basilica's sanctuary, which was finished in 1830. It may be from that period, but the art is somewhat stylized, suggesting a 20th-century origin. It is free of patronizing stereotypes regarding native people, although the teepees in the background are quite wrong. Teepees were used by the plains nations; Mohawks lived in long houses, as did the Jesuits and their converts at Kahnawake.

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Photographed at the basilica by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.