Kitihawa Point Du Sable (also known by her Christian name, Catherine)[1] was a Potawatomi woman who, with her husband Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, established the first permanent settlement in what is now the city of Chicago.[2] By the late 1700s, Kitihawa and her husband had set up their farm and trading post near the mouth of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan.[2]
There are no known records of Kitihawa's life before her marriage to Jean Baptiste. Kitihawa and her husband were married in the 1770s in a Potawatomi ceremony, followed by a Catholic ceremony on October 27, 1788, in Cahokia, Illinois.[3] Kitihawa and Jean Baptiste had two children, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable Jr., and Suzanne.[3]