What does a Navaho Indian hogan look like?

Answer 1

They are made of logs and branches and covered with earth or mud. They always face with the entrance to the east. They have a smoke hole at the top. They are usually 6 or 8 sided or round. The most common kind are called female. They have rounded tops and are said to be modeled after a mesa that is one of the two central sacred mountains where Changing Woman was. The less common type is called male. It has a pointed top and looks a little like a small earth-covered tepee.

Answer 2

Hogans are still made and used. Traditionally there are male and female versions. The male version is also called a forked stick hogan. They are seldom seen today except for sweat lodges. They are pointed at the top and covered with earth with the door facing east. They look like a earthen cone, with a wooden logs inner structure. The female hogan is 6 or 8 sides. Some people still live in them. Many traditional ceremonies must take place in one. The door always faces east. There is never an opening to the north. It starts with four posts, one for each cardinal direction. in the past and some still are, they were covered with earth with a hole for smoke or stove in the top. This kept them cool in the summer and warm in the high elevation winters.

Today some are built with modern construction techniques. At some of the tribal health centers there are modern versions for midwives to use helping with births and for medicine men to use for ceremonies. The tribal college, Dine' College, in Tsaile has a large library that is shaped like a mirrored multistory hogan. The whole campus grounds and locations of buildings is also set out symbolically as a large hogan.

The Navajo Nation Council Chambers in Window Rock was built in 1935 is octagon shape and structural framework are meant to evoke a monumental hogan. The building incorporates the Navajo ceremonial features of an east-facing main entrance and a windowless north wall.

The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2004. It is "the only legislative headquarters in the United States owned by an American Indian tribe which has been continuously in use by that tribe and whose design incorporates indigenous materials and architectural traditions tied to the Navajo heritage."