Female Hogan -- Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center, Chinle AZ
N 36° 09.169 W 109° 32.336
12S E 631432 N 4001887
An eight-sided Navajo Female Hogan has been recreated and is on display at the Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center
Waymark Code: WMMANA
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 08/23/2014
Views: 5
When we stopped into the Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center, we had the opportunity to speak with a park volunteer who gave us a tour of the female hogan (pronounced Ho-Gone) outside.
The female hogan is an 8-sided dwelling used as a residence or ceremonial space, while the male hogan is square of conical, and used primarily for storage.
From Wikipedia: (
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"Traditional dwellings[edit]
A hogan, the traditional Navajo home, is either built as a shelter for a man or for a woman. Male hogans are square or conical with a distinct rectangular entrance, while a female hogan is an eight-sided house. Both are made of wood and covered in mud, with the door always facing east to welcome the sun each morning. The Navajo construct hogans out of poles and brush covered with earth. Navajos have several types of hogans for lodging and ceremonial use. Ceremonies, such as healing ceremonies or the kinaaldá, will take place inside a hogan. According to Kehoe, this style of housing is distinctive to the Navajo, and she writes, "even today, a solidly constructed, log walled Hogan is preferred by many Navajo families." Most Navajo members today live in apartments and houses in urban areas
Those who practice the Navajo religion regard the hogan as sacred. The religious song "The Blessingway" (hozhooji) describes the first hogan as being built by Coyote with help from beavers to be a house for First Man, First Woman, and Talking God. The Beaver People gave Coyote logs and instructions on how to build the first hogan. Navajos made their hogans in the traditional fashion until the 1900s, when they started to make them in hexagonal and octagonal shapes. Today they are rarely used as dwellings, but are maintained primarily for ceremonial purposes."