how did the navajo make their homes

The Navajos

used to make their houses, called hogans, of wooden poles, tree bark and mud. The doorway of each hogan opened to the east so they could get the morning sun as well as good blessings. Today, many Navajo families still live in hogans, although trailers or more modern houses are tending to replace them.

Full Answer

How are Navajo houses made?

The Navajos used to make their houses, called hogans, of wooden poles, tree bark and mud. The doorway of each hogan opened to the east so they could get the morning sun as well as good blessings. Today, many Navajo families still live in hogans, although trailers or more modern houses are tending to replace them.

Why are Navajo houses round?

The round hogan is symbolic of the sun and its door faces east so that the first thing that a Navajo family sees in the morning is the rising sun, Father Sun, one of the most revered of the Navajo deities. The construction of a new hogan is almost always a community affair.

What is a Navajo hogan made out of?

Constructed from cedar or Ponderosa pine logs stacked in an intricate octagonal pattern and plastered with mud for insulation, the hogan is about as far off the grid as you can get.

What did the Navajo homes look like?

hogan, traditional dwelling and ceremonial structure of the Navajo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico. Early hogans were dome-shaped buildings with log, or occasionally stone, frameworks. Once framed, the structure was then covered with mud, dirt, or sometimes sod.

Did Navajo live in teepees?

There are no teepees on the Navajo Nation. The traditional dwelling is an eight-sided log structure with an earthen roof. The Navajo Code Talkers are national heroes. More than 400 Navajo Marines contributed to a wartime code that confounded the Japanese during World War II.

Why does a hogan have 8 sides?

Hexagonal (occasionally octagonal) hogans -- new style -- began to be built in the early 1900's. The main reason was the arrival of the railroad, which brought in large supplies of wooden cross-ties, which could be laid horizontally to form walls of a larger, taller home.

What is a female hogan?

A female hogan has a different architectural structure and purpose than a male hogan. The 'domed' female hogan is larger and houses families, while the 'forked' male hogan serves as a center for communal, ceremonial, and religious purposes. Traditionally, Navajos are a matriarchal (and matrilineal) society.

What did Navajo eat?

Wild plants which were gathered for food in early times included greens from beeweed; seed from the hedge mustard, pigweed and mountain grass; tubers of wild onions and wild potato; fruit like yucca, prickly pear, grapes; wild berries such as currants, chokecherries, sumac, rose, and raspberries.

Why people build round houses?

The round shape softens the sounds inside the building making it the perfect place for rest and reflection or for socializing and listening to and playing music. The shape also prevents noise from penetrating in from the outside. Sound waves dissipate as they wrap around the building, shielding you from outside noise.

What is the poorest reservation in the United States?

There are 3,143 counties in the United States. Oglala Lakota County, contained entirely within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation, has the lowest per capita income ($8,768) in the country, and ranks as the "poorest" county in the nation.

Why does the Navajo Nation not have electricity?

Accordingly, for over forty years, the extension of electricity was legally prohibited on over 1.5 million acres of Navajo land. At present, a dizzying array of cooperatives provide power to the Navajo Nation, each of whom have their own service territory, making it difficult to coordinate between cooperatives.

How much money do Navajos get a month?

The average payment would be $454 for adults and $151 for minors, according to the controller's website. But the decision is expected to be made based on need, up to $1,500 for adults and $500 for children. More money could be added to the fund next month if other projects fall through.

What language do the Navajo speak?

The Navajo speak an Apachean language which is classified in the Athabaskan language family. At some point in prehistory the Navajo and Apache migrated to the Southwest from Canada, where most other Athabaskan-speaking peoples still live; although the exact timing of the relocation is unknown, it is thought to have been between 1100 and 1500 ce. These early Navajo were mobile hunters and gatherers; after moving to the Southwest, however, they adopted many of the practices of the sedentary, farming Pueblo Indians near whom they settled.

What were the influences of the Pueblo?

Pueblo artistic influences drew Navajo people to adopt painted pottery and weaving; Na vajo rugs are particularly fine examples of this art form. Elements of Navajo ceremonialism such as dry-sand painting are also products of these contacts.

What are the Navajo rituals?

Some of these are simple rituals carried out by individuals or families for luck in travel and trade or for the protection of crops and herds. More-complex rites involve a specialist who is paid according to the complexity and length of the ceremonial. Traditionally, most rites were primarily for curing physical and mental illness. In other ceremonies there were simply prayers or songs, and dry paintings might be made of pollen and flower petals. In some cases there were public dances and exhibitions at which hundreds or thousands of Navajo gathered. Many of these rites are still performed.

What did the Navajo people do in the early 21st century?

In the early 21st century many Navajo continued to live a predominantly traditional lifestyle, speaking the Navajo language, practicing the religion, and organizing through traditional forms of social structure.

How was the Navajo society organized?

Traditional Navajo society was organized through matrilineal kinship; small, independent bands of related kin generally made decisions on a consensus basis. Similar groups still exist but tend to be based on locality of residence as well as kinship; many of these local groups have elected leaders.

Which tribes are relative newcomers?

While the peoples mentioned thus far all have very ancient roots in the Southwest, the Navajo and Apache are relative newcomers....

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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. ...

What is the Rainbow of the Navajos?

Beautiful Rainbow of the Navajo. At the center of the Navajo world is their shelter, the “HOGAN”. Navajos do not refer to their mode of living as a way of life… It is THE way of life …#N#The ancient hogan, known as the “forked stick hogan” was a conical hut constructed of three forked poles covered with logs, brush and mud. Called the ” mail” hogan by the Navajos, examples of this swelling can still occasionally be found in the western part of the reservation. More common today is the “female” hogan, a circular or 6 sided dwelling constructed of logs or stone, (below) with a doorway facing east and a smoke hole in the center of the roof.#N#The dome-shaped roof is formed of cribbed logs covered with dirt. (top photo) The fire is placed on the hard-packed floor beneath the smoke hole and a flap or hinged door covers the doorway. Traditionally the hogan lacked windows and was ventilated by the smoke hole in the roof and the east-facing doorway. Nowadays not only do the hogans have windows but they may also contain stoves, chimneys, beds and even a refrigerator and a T.V.

How is the sweat hogan heated?

It is heated by placing hot rocks within, the door being closed with several blankets. The sweat hogan provides excellent bathing and purifying facilities for the Navajos in their land of scarce water. As in virtually everything a Navajo does, there are prescribed rituals that must be followed in taking a sweat bath.

What is the Navajo family?

Navajo Indians: Matriarchal Society. The Navajos are matriarchal and descent is traced through the mother. While the basic unit of social cooperation is the biological family, the term “family” is considerably broader in it’s application to Navajo society than it is in the white American world. A biological family, historically, lived in ...

What is the hogan in the Navajo culture?

The Navajo hogan is more than just a place to eat and sleep and the concept of it as a “home” bears little resemblance to a white person’s attitude toward his dwelling place. The hogan is a gift of the gods and as such it occupies a place in the sacred world.

How many Navajos live in Arizona?

This land was called Dinehtah- the land of The People. Today over 130,000 Navajos live on their reservation which encompasses about 24,000 square miles of rugged, semi arid land in the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. The Reservation, which is about the size of the state of West Virginia. Navajo Song:

How many verses are there in the Sweat Bath Song?

Four verses of the Sweat Bath Song must be sung before a Navajo can leave the sweat hogan, which the Navajo call the Son of the She Dark, to plunge into cold water or dry himself in the sand. The bather then re-enters the sweat hogan and sings four more verses of the song.

What happened to the Navajo in the 1800s?

By the middle of the 1800s, many of the Navajo were captured during the Scorched Earth Campaign and forced to walk more than 350 miles east to Fort Sumner; those who lived were hardened by the journey and years of war. Later that same century the Navajo, the only indigenous people allowed to return to their home land, ...