Navajo Council House – Window Rock AZ

Description

“This structure is a meeting house for the tribal council of the Navajo Indians. Its shape and construction is based on Navajo building forms. It is octagonal in form and approximately 72 feet across in each dimension with its exterior walls constructed of native rubble stone finished on the inside with adobe plaster. The upper roof is supported by unhewn logs which extend somewhat like flying buttresses into the stone piers at the corners of the octagon. Both upper and lower roofs are covered with adobe. It is one of many buildings constructed on the Navajo Reservation with P.W.A. funds. It was completed in December 1935 at a construction cost of $27,614 and a project cost of $29,526.”
(Short and Brown)

“Based on Navajo building forms, the Council House was built as a meeting house for the tribal council of Navajo Indians. Both the upper and lower roofs are covered with adobe.”
(Flynn and Polese)

“The Navajo Nation Council Chamber, the seat of Navajo government, was funded by the Public Works Administration and built in 1935 by Navajo laborers under the Civilian Conservation Corps – Indian Division. The rustic design of the octagonal building was based on the hogan, the traditional Navajo building form with an east-facing entrance. The chamber was constructed with local materials: native sandstone block and Ponderosa pine vigas in order to blend with natural surroundings of the canyon. The walls of the council chamber were decorated in 1942 with 12 murals entitled “The History and Progress of the Navajo Nation” by Navajo painter Gerald Nailor.” (content.library.arizona.edu)