In Navajo country today it is typical to
drive along remote, dusty roads and see alongside fairly conventional,
isolated houses... another kind of house. It is smaller,
sometimes six sided, and the door always faces east. It may even be
earthen. It is a hogan -- the traditional Navajo domestic structure. They
are still used for ceremonial purposes in the Four Corners area. In some
places they are used as the main family
home.
The hogan is constructed
according to a strict religious symbolism. Find out about some
of the symbolic features in the architecture. Why do hogans face
east? Some hogans are considered male and others are considered
female...what is that all about? Hogans are connected to ordinary
Navajo life, to Navajo medicine, and to Navajo religion. What
kinds of ceremonies take place in hogans? How is the roof constructed --
interesting architecture.
You become the expert on the hogan...tell us about
it!
Bibliography:
Dutton.American Indians of the Southwest
Kluckhorn & Leighton.The Navajo(p.
44ff)
Lindig.Navajo:Tradition and
Change in the Southwest
