Karen Begay, Traditional Navajo Hogan Builder. Smoke Signal, AZ  |  2022

Karen Begay learned to build traditional Navajo hogans from her grandfather,Tsinijinnie Nez Begay, who also taught her songs, prayers, ceremonies, and how to live off the land. While she has been building for many years, during the pandemic, she started building hogans for unsheltered Dine families.  To her knowledge, she is the only female hogan-builder in her tribe, and one of the few Navajos who still build traditional hogans. She builds the traditional eight-sided hogan using juniper or local pine trees. Following tradition, she builds the hogan door facing east, and has each hogan blessed by a medicine man. Her son, Aubrey Cardin-Begay, served as her apprentice.