Mount Saint Mary Academy | Native American Heritage Month

2022 Native American Heritage Month Activities

On November 3, 2022, the Mount Saint Mary Academy Peer Ministry Club hosted a drum circle in honor of Native American Heritage Month. The activity was led by Jacqueline Muratore, Assistant Directress for Faculty, Curriculum, and Planning, as well as her sister, Kathleen Burke, a former theology teacher and 2004 graduate.

On November 9, 2022, students in Michelle Kovach's Theology classes participated in a prayer service inspired by St. Kateri Tekawitha, the first canonized Native American saint.

"St. Kateri is also known as Lily of the Mohawks since she was a symbol of purity and is part of the Mohawk people," shared Mrs. Kovach. "According to legend, St. Kateri would create small chapels in the forest by fashioning wooden crosses to use in prayer."

For their prayer, students went outside and found sticks to use in creating their own wooden crosses just like St. Kateri. They then took these crosses up to the chapel in St. Joe's for a final prayer for the intercession of St. Kateri. Mrs. Kovach encouraged them to either leave their crosses in the Chapel as a sign of thanksgiving to God for the beauty of nature, to keep them as a reminder of St. Kateri's example of holiness, or to leave them around campus for their fellow Mounties to find.