Sounds of drums and men singing haunting Native songs filled the small gym at St. Benedict Church on May 12 as the archdiocese’s Kateri Center ministry to Native American Catholics celebrated the upcoming canonization of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha with a powwow. From 1 to 6 p.m. people danced, sang, met old friends and new ones and celebrated life in general. “This is a gathering of all nations and telling of our stories,” said Georgina Roy, the director of the Kateri Center of Chicago. “It’s just a time to dance and be called to feast.” Powwows are important events in the Native American community. Participants wear traditional native dress and dance to various songs led by drummers and singers. Drums are large and made out of wood and animal skin. The center also used the powwow as a way to raise funds to send 14 people to Kateri’s canonization in Rome Oct. 21. Blessed Kateri, known as the Lily of the Mohawks, was born to a Christian Algonquin mother and a Mohawk father in 1656 in upstate New York along the Mohawk River. She was baptized by a Jesuit missionary in 1676 when she was 20, and she died in Canada four years later. In June 1980, she became the first Native American to be beatified. Kateri’s canonization is looked upon as a wonderful event for Native Americans. “Blessed Kateri is going to bring a unity of peoples,” Roy said referring to all Native American tribes. In Chicago, the Kateri Center serves 250 tribes. Kateri will be the first tribal affiliated saint. Her canonization will connect the native community to its ancestors who have been praying for Kateri’s canonization for 365 years, said Roy, who is a member of the Ojibwe tribe. “So we are going to rise above. We are going to show the world that we are here,” said Roy. Lisa Franqui attends Mass at the Kateri Center and will attend the canonization with the group in Rome. Kateri is a role model for Franqui. “Kateri walked in the native way but also in the spiritual way,” she said. It’s a “big deal” that Kateri is Native and Catholic, said Franqui, a member of the Navajo tribe. “She was drawn to the faith at a young age and I feel the same way. I kind of feel like I’m living through her.” A member of the United Methodist Church’s Ministry of Presence will attend the canonization with the local group. They have had a long relationship with the Kateri Center, said Rev. Michelle Oberweis Lacock, who attended the powwow. The United Methodist Church has an outreach specific to Native Americans where they provide scholarships and encourage teaching of the native tribal languages. Kateri represents hope for the future between Native Americans and Christians because of all the things that Christians did to natives, she said. For Kateri to face that discrimination and suffering and still believe, “It gives hope that there can be a new relationship,” she said.