For most of his life, H.R. Voth was a missionary among Native Americans for the Mennonite Church. He worked as a missionary among the Cheyenne Indians in Oklahoma from 1881 to 1893. In 1893, Voth was sent to Northern Arizona to work with the Hopi Indians by the Mission Board of the G.C. Mennonite Church. After arriving in Hopiland, according to Mennonite history, Voth was invited to the Hopi village of Oraibi by the village chief. Voth journeyed to Oraibi and decided to settle there, building a meeting house and a small residence. Voth spent ten years in Oraibi, from 1893 to 1903, yet he managed to convert only six Hopis to Christianity during that time. Due to Hopi unfriendliness, Voth and his family moved to the neighboring Hopi village of New Oraibi. Voth's wife, Martha, died shortly after the move. Martha's death deeply affected Voth, and he resigned from missionary work soon afterwards.
Voth's tenure as a resident missionary in Hopiland was bittersweet. Voth believed strongly in the tenets of Christianity and was determined to convert the Hopis of Oraibi. He felt that once the Hopis were converted to Christianity they would no longer wish to conduct, attend or participate in any traditional ceremonies or activities. This desire to eliminate the traditional Hopi way of life was contradicted by Voth's other activities in Oraibi. He learned the Hopi language, tended their sick, and recorded and photographed many of the Hopi ceremonies and activities.
After Voth retired as a missionary, he remained interested in the Hopi people. He compiled a Hopi-English dictionary and wrote several articles and books on the Hopis. These works include Oraibi Marriage Customs, 1900, and Brief Miscellaneous Hopi Papers, 1912.
From the guide to the H.R. Voth Collection, 1893-1903, (Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives Department)
