Catherine Wind Jennison was granddaughter of medicine woman Jane King Phelps, daughter of Chief James Wind, and mother of Chief Guy Jennison. Thus, she stood at the intersection of multiple generations of tribal leaders.

A mother of fourteen children, all delivered without the aid of a doctor, Catherine Jennison was married twice. By her first husband, Wolford Robitaille, she had four children, and following his death, Catherine married Walter “Watt” Jennison, a white man and Union veteran by whom she had ten children, including Chief Guy Jennison.

Catherine was an ardent defender of tribal rights over the Ottawa Indian Cemetery. Catherine helped secure funds for the metal arch gateway installed at the southern entrance of the cemetery in 1905. She held ice cream socials and other events to raise the money for the arch.