The history of the Catholic Church on the Hopi Reservation dates back more than 350 years. During much of this time, the church and the Hopi have shared a tragic history greatly influenced by the Spanish and US Government conquests in these areas. After the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680, no missionary efforts took place for quite some time.

The current history of the church on the Reservation started with Mother Katherine Drexel, the Foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, who had been searching for missionaries to settle and minister to the Navajos in Arizona. She was able to persuade Franciscan Fr. Godfrey Schilling, OFM, of the Cincinnati Province, with the assistance of Monsignor Joseph A. Stephen (the Director of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions), that this missionary effort would be to the benefit of both the Navajo People and the friars.

In 1898 the first group of Franciscans hade their way to St. Michael. On May 4, 1926, a site for a mission site at Keams Canyon was approved to minister to Catholics in the area and to the Navajo children in the Boarding School. On May 4, 1927 the project began with the erection of an 11' by 18' frame shack which was used as the living quarters during construction of the church. It received the name "Chicken Coop" because the lumber used in it was taken from a chicken coop at St. Michaels School.

By January 1928 the four stone walls of the church were erected and the roof was ready for shingles. Throughout this school year Mass was said in the assembly hall and Fr. Mathias lived in the "Chicken Coop".

The services of Brother Gervase Thuemmel were obtained for the summer to supervise the construction of the concrete stairway and stone work at the entrance of the church. The building, with a church upstairs and living quarters for the priest downstairs, was completed on October 21, 1928, to St. Joseph. It became a parish at this time and the pastor in residence was Father Mathias Haile, OFM. Unfortunately, Father could not move into the living quarters until December 26 of that year.

In October, 1931 Fr. Winfrid Stauble came to Keams Canyon and served St. Joseph Mission for the next 11 years, during which time he cared also for Greasewood and Pinon. It was through contact with the children at the Keams Canyon Boarding School that Fr. Winfrid met Native Americans living in the Pinon district, who for several years longed for a priest to live among them. Stone chapels with small rooms for the priest to stay overnight were built at both these places in the mid 1930's In 1942, a Japanese internment camp was built at Leupp and this was included on the priest's rounds, along with Greasewood, Pinon, Cornfields, Steamboat, the Lagunas at Winslow, White Cone and Low Mountain. The priest at Keams Canyon was also saying Mass on First Mesa. In 1943, the Catholic residents of Tuba City expressed a need for a priest to say Mass for them and this became the responsibility of the priest at Keams Canyon in 1945.

Early in 1949 there was a big snow storm that isolated many Navajos. The Navajo Indian Service called for assistance of the US Air Force. Father Silver Meyer was asked to be a "spotter' because he was familiar with the western part of the reservation. Many people have him to thank for receiving food, fuel, and hay for their livestock during that disastrous winter.

Although the congregation is still small, St. Joseph church serves as an important and vital link in a large area. In 1997 the Vincentian Community of the Province of the West accepted Bishop Donald Pelotte's invitation to minister to Navajo and Hopi Catholics in the northwest corner of the Diocese. On June 1, 1997, the current pastor, Fr. Clayton F. Kilburn, CM, became pastor of St. Joseph Mission.

There have also been a number of sisters missioned to Keams Canyon. The most recent was Sr. Mary Kay Scherier, DC, a Daughter of Charity, who was in Keams Canyon for five years, until June of 2003. Her dedication to the children at the boarding school and to the aging and needy of all faiths in the area during her stay are known first hand by many.

On July 2, 1997 the church was threatened by a BIA control fire that wind caused to get out of control and sweep down the canyon from the back of the boarding school to Beaver Dam. Father Clay fought the fire for three hours loosing only a number of trees, along with the roof and items stored in the "Navajo Hotel". The "Navajo Hotel" provided lodging for many relatives bringing children to the school or patients to the hospital when mules and wagons were still the means of transportation. It has now been restored. The Parish Hall bearing evidence that the fire was licking up the back walls along with the church and the cottage were saved.

On June 13, 2000, Bishop Donald Pelotte, at eh invitation of Chairman Wayne Taylor, attended a meeting of about 30 Hopi from different villages and expressed to them his sincere sorrow for any contribution the Catholic Church or any of its members may have had to the painful history shared by the Catholic Church and the Hopi. Meaningful dialogue followed during which some concerns still remaining were expressed. We thank God today for the peace, harmony and healing that has occurred during these 75 years and pray for God's continued gift of these blessings on us all.