[5] Qöyawayma's father worked for Mennonite missionary Henry Voth, who built a school in Oraibi and attempted to win converts to Christianity.

Many in the village saw Voth's efforts to enforce attendance as heavy-handed, and this caused a rift between Hopis who opposed and supported the school.

[2][4][6] She left to live with a Mennonite family in Newton, Kansas, and to receive missionary training at Bethel College.

[2] She had second thoughts about missionary life, however, when she continued to be unsuccessful in converting any Oraibi residents, while attempting "to blend the best of Hopi tradition with the best of the white culture, retaining the essence of good, whatever the source.

This caused friction with her fellow teachers, and with some parents who preferred that their children be taught white language and customs exclusively, in order to be more successful in American society.

She persisted, believing that Native American students were more receptive to concepts which were related in terms of traditional stories and legends.

In 1941, the Bureau of Indian Affairs chose Qöyawayma to demonstrate bilingual teaching to school officials across the country.

The Heard Museum in Phoenix held an exhibition of her work in the late 1970s, and some of her pots are included in its permanent collection.