Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Over the course of their history, the Navajo (Diné) have constructed many types of architecture, but during the 20th century, one building-the octagonal stacked-log hogan-emerged to become a powerful and inspiring symbol of Diné culture. This book describes the rise of the octagonal stacked-log hogan as the most important architectural form among the Diné. The Navajo Nation is the largest Indian reservation in the United States and encompasses territory from within Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah where thousands of octagonal Native American homes, called hogans, dot the landscape. The Navajo (or Diné) have constructed a wide range of buildings over the course of their history and this book explains how a specific hogan form-the octagonal stacked-log hogan-emerged as a powerful and inspiring symbol of Diné culture. Virtually every Diné community on the reservation has a school, a senior citizens' center, an office building, or a community center that intentionally evokes the stacked-log hogan. Populated by an array of octagonal public architecture and by the hogan-one of the few Indigenous dwellings still in use during the 21st century-the Navajo Nation maintains a deep connection with tradition. In this book, you will learn the remarkable story of how the hogan has remained at the center of Diné society and become the basis for the most distinctive Native American landscape in the United States. This book will appeal to scholarly and educated readers interested in Native American history. It is also well-suited to a broad selection of college courses in American Studies, Native American Studies, Native American Art, Cultural Geography, and Native American Architecture"-- Provided by publisher.