The Hogan near Spider Rock

The 100+-year-old Hogan we have stayed in on trips to the Navajo Nation. It is located in Canyon De Chelly National Park, where only about 50... more

by Bob and Nadine Johnston

Original - Not For Sale

Price

Not Specified

Dimensions

16.000 x 12.000 x 0.020 inches

Title

The Hogan near Spider Rock

Artist

Bob and Nadine Johnston

Medium

Photograph - Fine Art Available On Canvas Or Prints And Gift/note Cards

Description

The 100+-year-old Hogan we have stayed in on trips to the Navajo Nation. It is located in Canyon De Chelly National Park, where only about 50 families are allowed to live. It is owned by a friend, who inherited it from his uncle.

A hogan from Navajo hooghan [hoːɣan]) is the primary traditional home of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the
underground home, and the sweat-house. A hogan is usually round and cone-shaped, but they may also be square. A traditional hogan is made of wood and packed mud and earth in varying amounts, with the door facing east to welcome the rising sun for good wealth and fortune.

Today, while some older hogans are still used as dwellings and others are maintained for ceremonial purposes, new hogans are rarely intended as family dwellings. But, many are building Modern Type structures for homes with plumbing and electric, in the shape of hogans.

Traditional structured hogans are also considered pioneers of energy efficient homes. Using packed mud against the entire wood structure, the home was kept cool by natural air ventilation and water sprinkled on the dirt ground inside. During the winter, the fireplace kept the inside warm for a long period of time and well into the night.

The preference of hogan construction and use is still very popular among the Navajos, although the use of it as a home shelter dwindled through the 1900s, due mainly due to the requirement by many Navajos to acquire homes built through government and lender funding - which largely ignored the hogan-style and the sacred space - in preference for low cost, low bid HUD-standardized construction.

That began to officially change in the late 1990s with various small projects to find ways to bring the hogan back. In 2001, it began changing significantly with a joint-venture of a partnership involving the Navajo Nation, Northern Arizona University, the US Forest Service and other private and public partners - to begin manufacturing and building log hogans from a Navajo-majority owned log home factory in Cameron, Arizona next to the Cameron Chapter House. Using surplus small-diameter wood being pulled out of the Northern Arizona forests to mitigate devastating wildfires, and with a series of meetings between elders, medicine men, and project leaders - a log hogan revival is being born on the Navajo Nation.

While keeping the sacred space of the hogan relatively untouched, and also meeting the requirements for modern home amenities, an ancient tradition is now once again beginning to flourish. Along with assuring the survival of a cultural heritage, this project has also created new jobs, summer school construction experience for Navajo teens, public buildings, and much more

Uploaded

October 20th, 2012