Henry Voth
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Richert Voth (15 April 1855 – 2 June 1931) was an ethnographer and Mennonite
missionary
and minister. He was born in Alexanderwohl, Southern Russia
. Voth was sent by the Mission Board of the General Conference Mennonite Church
to work among the Arapaho
and the Hopi
people.
Voth learned the Arapaho language
and customs at Darlington
, Indian Territory
, near Fort Reno
, where he worked from June, 1882 to January, 1892. Voth was made superintendent in 1884. He married Barbara Baer from the mission the same year, they had a daughter, Frieda. His wife died in 1889. Voth married Martha Moser, who had also worked at Darlington, in 1892 and they both went to work at Oraibi
with the 3rd mesa Hopi
, Northern Arizona the next year. Martha Voth died in 1901. Henry Voth had witnessed the Ghost Dance
revivalism among his Arapaho congregation. He collected objects and later sold them to the Bureau of American Ethnology
. At Oraibi Voth supported many anthropologists from around the world in their Pueblo
studies and collected objects for many institutions, for Fred Harvey, but also for the Hamburg and Berlin anthropological museums. His closest collabortation was with George A. Dorsey from Chicago. The Field Museum published Voth' s series of precise descriptions of Hopi ceremonies and folklore, illustrated with his Kodak No. 1 photographs. Voth was one of very few non native writers on the Hopi fluent in the Hopi language
. Among his papers at Bethel College
are his studies in the Arapaho language, Hopi religion, and a Hopi dictionary. Voth left the Hopi and the Heathen Mission field in 1903.
He married Katie Hershler in 1906 and from 1914 to 1927 served the Zoar Mennonite Church in Goltry, Oklahoma
as its resident minister. He died in 1931 in Newton, Kansas
.
In the same series, together with George A. Dorsey:
Essays on Henry R. Voth:
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
and minister. He was born in Alexanderwohl, Southern Russia
Molotschna
Molotschna Colony was a Russian Mennonite settlement in what is now Zaporizhia Oblast in Ukraine. Today is called Molochansk with a population of under 10,000. The settlement is named after the Molochna River which forms its western boundary. Today the land mostly falls within the Tokmatskyi and...
. Voth was sent by the Mission Board of the General Conference Mennonite Church
General Conference Mennonite Church
The General Conference Mennonite Church was an association of Mennonite congregations based in North America from 1860 to 2002. The conference was formed in 1860 when congregations in Iowa invited North American Mennonites to join together in order to pursue common goals such as higher education...
to work among the Arapaho
Arapaho
The Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans historically living on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Sioux. Arapaho is an Algonquian language closely related to Gros Ventre, whose people are seen as an early...
and the Hopi
Hopi
The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
people.
Voth learned the Arapaho language
Arapaho language
The Arapaho language or hinono'eitiit is a Plains Algonquian language spoken almost entirely by elders in Wyoming, and to a much lesser extent in Oklahoma. It is in great danger of becoming extinct. As of 1996, there were approximately 1,000 speakers of theNorthern Arapaho...
and customs at Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
, Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
, near Fort Reno
Fort Reno
Fort Reno may refer to any of the three United States Army posts named for General Jesse L. Reno:*Fort Reno Park, in Washington, D.C., established 1862...
, where he worked from June, 1882 to January, 1892. Voth was made superintendent in 1884. He married Barbara Baer from the mission the same year, they had a daughter, Frieda. His wife died in 1889. Voth married Martha Moser, who had also worked at Darlington, in 1892 and they both went to work at Oraibi
Oraibi
Oraibi, also referred to as Old Oraibi, is a Hopi village in Navajo County, Arizona, United States, in the northeastern part of the state. Known as Orayvi by the native inhabitants, it is located on Third Mesa on the Hopi Reservation near Kykotsmovi Village...
with the 3rd mesa Hopi
Hopi
The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
, Northern Arizona the next year. Martha Voth died in 1901. Henry Voth had witnessed the Ghost Dance
Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance was a new religious movement which was incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. The traditional ritual used in the Ghost Dance, the circle dance, has been used by many Native Americans since prehistoric times...
revivalism among his Arapaho congregation. He collected objects and later sold them to the Bureau of American Ethnology
Bureau of American Ethnology
The Bureau of American Ethnology was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Interior Department to the Smithsonian Institution...
. At Oraibi Voth supported many anthropologists from around the world in their Pueblo
Pueblo
Pueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
studies and collected objects for many institutions, for Fred Harvey, but also for the Hamburg and Berlin anthropological museums. His closest collabortation was with George A. Dorsey from Chicago. The Field Museum published Voth' s series of precise descriptions of Hopi ceremonies and folklore, illustrated with his Kodak No. 1 photographs. Voth was one of very few non native writers on the Hopi fluent in the Hopi language
Hopi language
Hopi is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Hopi people of northeastern Arizona, USA, although today some Hopi are monolingual English speakers.The use of the language has gradually declined over the course of the 20th century...
. Among his papers at Bethel College
Bethel College
Bethel College can refer to:* Bethel College * Bethel College * Bethel College * Bethel University , called Bethel College until 2004* Bethel University , called Bethel College until 2009...
are his studies in the Arapaho language, Hopi religion, and a Hopi dictionary. Voth left the Hopi and the Heathen Mission field in 1903.
He married Katie Hershler in 1906 and from 1914 to 1927 served the Zoar Mennonite Church in Goltry, Oklahoma
Goltry, Oklahoma
Goltry is a town in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 268 at the 2000 census. Goltry shares a school district with the nearby town of Helena, Oklahoma.-Geography:Goltry is located at ....
as its resident minister. He died in 1931 in Newton, Kansas
Newton, Kansas
Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 19,132. Newton is located north of Wichita and is included in the Wichita metropolitan statistical area...
.
Works
The Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, published Voth' s papers in its Anthropological Series, Vols. 3, 6 and 11:- The Oraibi Powamu Ceremony, 3(2), 64- 158, 1901
- The Oraibi Summer Snake Ceremony, 3(4), 263- 358, 1903
- The Oraibi Oaqöl Ceremony, 6(1), 1- 46, 1903
- Oraibi Natal Customs and Ceremonies, 6(2), 47- 61
- The Oraibi Marau Ceremony, 11(1), 1- 81, 1912
- Brief Miscellaneous Hopi Papers, 11(2), 89- 149, 1912
In the same series, together with George A. Dorsey:
- The Oraibi Soyal Ceremony, 3(1), 1901
- The Mishongnovi Ceremonies of the Snake and Antelope Fraternities, 3(3), 1901
Further reading
On Hopi linguistics see:- P. David Seaman: Hopi Linguistics. An Annotated Bibliography. In: Anthropological Linguistics 19, 1977, 2, , pp. 78–97.
Essays on Henry R. Voth:
- Barbara A. Thiesen: Every Beginning Is Hard. Darlington Mennonite Mission, 1880–1902. In: Mennonite Life 61, 2006, 2, , pp. 1–36, online.
- Fred Eggan: H. R. Voth, Ethnologist. In: Barton Wright: Hopi material culture. Artifacts gathered by H. R. Voth in the Fred Harvey Collection. With an introduction by Byron Harvey III and an essay on H. R. Voth by Fred Eggan. Northland Press u. a., Flagstaff AZ 1979, ISBN 0-87358-189-X, pp. 1–7.
- John F. Schmidt (Hrsg.): The Autobiography of Henrich R. Voth (1855-1931). In: Mennonite Quarterly Review 40, 1966, , pp. 217–226.
