Kateri Tekakwitha was a 17th-century Mohawk woman who became a devout Catholic. Born in the village of Ossernenon, she was the sole survivor of a smallpox epidemic that claimed her family, leaving her with facial scarring. After being influenced by Jesuit missionaries, she converted to Christianity at age 19 and took the name Catherine. Committed to a life of perpetual virginity, she eventually moved to the mission village of Kahnawake near Montreal, where she lived a life of prayer and hard work until her death in 1680.