Bilingual report — Gina Santi Photography Images of the Month – December 2022

Images of the Month – December 2022

Gina Santi Photography

Image of the Month – December 2022

     In English                En Español 

The hogan is the fundamental, traditional dwelling of the Navajo people of Arizona and New Mexico. It is a single-room roughly circular abode, with an east-facing access that encloses a central fireplace or wood stove set below a central smoke ventilation hole. It is built usually of logs and mud, with a domed roof. Historically, it has been not only a place to live but also a place of considerable spiritual significance. The hogan can be male (cone-shaped) or female (round or six-sided, as in the image).

In Navajo culture, every new Hogan must be ritually consecrated after it is built. This consecration is done by first touching the four main posts of the hogan, which symbolize the four cardinal points, and then scattering cornmeal or corn pollen all around the inside in a clockwise direction. This blessing is meant to make the hogan strong enough to safeguard the family from physical or spiritual injure. Other ceremonies, including healing ones, are also held in hogans. For these reasons, even if a Navajo family doesn’t live in a hogan, they would make sure there was at least one nearby.

Praying over your house can be a powerful way to protect it from harm and evil. As we approach the beginning of a new year, I present to you this Navajo Hogan Song to use as a preemptive and protective mantra, to attract a blissful life cycle lived in harmony with all people and things that inhabit Mother Earth. Happy New Year to all!

It is placed, it is placed, it is placed.
It is placed, it is placed, it is placed.
Now at the Rim of the Emergence Place, it is placed, it is placed.
At the hogan, blessedness is placed, it is placed.
At the rear, Turquoise Boy it is placed, it is placed.
At the rear, White Shell Girl, it is placed, it is placed.
Truly at the center of the abalone hogan, it is placed, it is placed.
Truly at the center of the hogan of White Shell Girl.
At the center of the hogan of soft goods, it is placed, it is placed.
At the hogan of all kinds of jewels, it is placed, it is placed.
Now sąąah naaghéi, now bik’eh hózhóó below the hogan, it is placed, it is placed.
it is placed, it is placed.
it is placed, it is placed, neyowo.

– “Hogan Song”, by M.K., as translated by Charlotte Frisbie in “Ritual Drama in the Navajo Blessing Ceremony”, in Southwestern Indian Ritual Drama (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1980). 191

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El hogan es la vivienda tradicional fundamental del pueblo navajo de Arizona y Nuevo México. Es una vivienda de una sola habitación aproximadamente circular, con un acceso orientado al este, que encierra una chimenea central o una estufa de leña ubicada debajo de un orificio central para ventilación de humo. Está construido generalmente de troncos y barro, con un techo abovedado. Históricamente, ha sido no solo un lugar para vivir, sino también un lugar de gran importancia espiritual. El hogan puede ser masculino (en forma de cono) o femenino (redondo o de seis lados, como en la imagen).

En la cultura navajo, cada nuevo Hogan debe consagrarse ritualmente después de su construcción. Esta consagración se realiza tocando primero los cuatro postes principales del hogan, que simbolizan los cuatro puntos cardinales, y luego esparciendo harina de maíz o polen de maíz por todo el interior en el sentido de las agujas del reloj. Esta bendición está destinada a hacer que el hogan sea lo suficientemente fuerte como para proteger a la familia de daños físicos o espirituales. Otras ceremonias, incluidas las de curación, también se llevan a cabo en hogans. Por estas razones, incluso si una familia navajo no vive en un hogan, se asegurarían de que hubiera al menos uno cerca.

Orar por tu casa puede ser una forma poderosa de protegerla del daño y el mal. A medida que nos acercamos al comienzo de un nuevo año, les presento esta Canción Navajo Hogan para que la utilicen como un mantra preventivo y protector, para atraer un ciclo de vida dichoso armonía con todas las personas y cosas que habitan la Madre Tierra. ¡Feliz Año Nuevo para todos!

Se coloca, se coloca, se coloca.
Se coloca, se coloca, se coloca.
Ahora, en el Borde del Lugar de Emergencia, se coloca, se coloca.
En el hogan se pone la bienaventuranza, se pone.
En la parte trasera, Turquoise Boy se coloca, se coloca.
En la retaguardia, White Shell Girl, se coloca, se coloca.
Verdaderamente en el centro del hogan de abalón, se coloca, se coloca.
Verdaderamente en el centro del hogan de White Shell Girl.
En el centro del hogan de géneros textiles, se coloca, se coloca.
En el hogan de toda clase de joyas, se pone, se pone.
Ahora są’ąah naaghéi, ahora bik’eh hózhóó debajo del hogan, se coloca, se coloca.
Se coloca, se coloca. Se coloca, se coloca, neyowo.

– “Hogan Song”, de M.K., según la traducción de Charlotte Frisbie en “Ritual Drama in the Navajo Blessing Ceremony”, en Southwestern Indian Ritual Drama (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1980). 191

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— Gina Santi is a freelance photographer born and raised in Venezuela and currently based in Tempe, Arizona. She earned her master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from Northern Arizona University and has participated in various events in Northern Arizona, including the annual Celebraciones de la Gente at the Museum of Northern Arizona. Visit http://www.ginasantiphotography.com for more information.