Mother Mary Catherine Sacred White Buffalo

Crowfeather reportedly expressed a desire to become a Catholic nun at a young age, and spent four years at the Benedictine Sisters' School in Fort Yates, North Dakota.^[1] From 1888 to 1890, Crowfeather studied theology under Father Francis M. Craft.^[1][3] Both Crowfeather and Craft were reportedly influenced by the life and work of the Algonquin-Mohawk saint Kateri Tekakwitha.^[1][4][5]

Crowfeather later attended a Benedictine school in Avoca, Minnesota, along with five other Lakota women.^[1]

She entered a Benedictine novitiate in Zell, Minnesota, professing vows in 1890. She served at a mission school in Stephan, South Dakota until the organization was moved to the Fort Berthold Reservation in Elbowoods, North Dakota.^[1]

The year after the move to North Dakota, Mary Catherine was elected founding prioress-general of the Congregation of American Sisters, and assumed the title Mother. The Congregation performed missionary work with the Arikara, Gros Ventre, and Mandan communities.^[1]

She died from tuberculosis in 1893. The Congregation of American sisters survived until 1900, with a peak membership of twelve.^[1]