Book Reviews2 A Lily Among Thorns: The Mohawk Repatriation of Kateri Tekahkwitha

Oct 23, 2009

Book written by: Darren Bonaparte.

 Akwesasne, New York : The Wampum Chronicles.  295 pages.  Paperback.  ISBN 978-1-4392-1791-7.  $18.99.

This book is an interesting and alternative perspective on the life and times of Kateri Tekahkwitha, a Mohawk maiden who died in 1680 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980.  Before telling Blessed Kateri's story, Bonaparte sets the stage by presenting the earlier history of the Mohawk and the other Iroquois nations. He gives the history of the Five nations of the  Iroquois Confederation:  the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Onondaga nations.

Bonaparte also describes the first encounters between the Mohawks and Europeans from France, the Netherlands, and later, from England. This contact had a major impact on the Mohawks and other Indians, some of which was good while at other times it was disastrous for them.  The Mohawks received new items like glass beads, metal weapons, and guns from the Europeans, but they also received devastating diseases like smallpox which decimated many tribes. Some tribes were wiped out by these diseases because they had no natural immunity to them. The smallpox epidemic proved to be a significant factor in the life of Blessed Kateri Tekahkwitha.

The title of the book A Lily Among Thorns refers to Blessed Kateri’s hard life amongst her own people. As Bonaparte's historical research depicts, life as an Indian was not an easy one.  Kateri’s life was made worse due to the fact that she was an orphan and  that she had been scarred in many ways by smallpox.  Her face had scar marks and her eyesight was affected to the point that she many times wore a scarf or blanket over her head to protect her eyes from the sun and to hide the scars.  Her health was also in a weakened condition due to the smallpox.  She experienced many immaterial thorns as her aunt and other family members repeatedly tried to get her to marry, though she refused.

By means of a treaty with the French; Jesuit missionaries were allowed to work amongst the Mohawks to gain converts to Catholicism.  Blessed Kateri met one of the missionaries and eventually it was arranged for her to leave her village and join other Christian Indians in their own village in Canada. Bonaparte describes how Blessed Kateri, and the others who later joined her,  did penance and ascetic works in expiation of their sins and those of their fellow tribal members.  Many of these mortifications would be considered extreme, possibly even crazy, today but as Bonaparte explains, these penances fit in well with Iroquois culture.  Such mortifications probably did not help Blessed Kateri’s fragile health.  The Jesuits did intervene when she tried to do a penance that was too extreme, but when the modern reader becomes acquainted with her habits, they can only wonder what was considered 'too extreme.'

Blessed Kateri died during Holy Week in April of 1680. In her life and death,she inspired many Indians to convert or live a more Christian life.  Several apparitions of her have been reported and many more miracles have occurred since her death, occurring even to the present day. It is hoped that she will be canonized in the near future, which would make her the first Native American to be declared a saint.

Bonaparte book includes many black and white photographs, as well as a massive bibliography of books, articles and websites. It is an interesting blend of the story of a saint with a great amount of research into her time-period and social milieu.
A Lily Among Thorns is highly recommended to those interested in Blessed Kateri, the Mohawks, and early American and Canadian history.

Darren Bonaparte is a Mohawk Indian. He is also the author of Creation & Confederation:  The Living History of the Iroquois (2008). He lives in a Mohawk community on the St. Lawrence River and spends much of his time giving presentations on the traditional Iroquois Wampum belts when he is not writing.  

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