By Ryan Hall
The Farmington Daily Times
Oct 13, 2005, 11:28 pm
FARMINGTON — The Navajo Nation Council Chambers in Window Rock, Ariz., were declared a national historic landmark Wednesday during a ceremony held at the building.
The structure was completed in November 1935 and has been used for the tribe’s council business ever since, according to a release by the Navajo Nation Office of the Speaker. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark by Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton on Aug. 18, 2004.
The plaque announcing the designation in both English and Navajo was revealed during the ceremony Wednesday morning and designed by Jerome Tso.
“There is a standard plaque that the Department of Interior issues,” Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan wrote in a release. “However, we wanted a unique plaque that is befitting of our people and our way of life. We wanted to reflect our history and look toward the future.”
According to Karen Francis, public information officer for Morgan, there were around 450 people at the celebration, including former Chairman Peter MacDonald, Milton Bluehouse, Omar Bradley, NM Department of Indian Affairs Secretary Bennie Shendo, and senators from the Czech Republic.
The building itself was constructed in the Pueblo Revival style using local sandstone for the walls and ponderosa pines to support the roof. Very few manufactured components were used.
In accordance with Navajo tradition, the primary entrance to the council chambers faces east.
Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. did not attend the ceremony because of a funeral in Farmington, but a staff member read his prepared remarks.
“This council chamber, with its eight sides and its door to the east, is the home of all the Navajo people, the cradle of our government,” Shirley’s remarks read. “In our Navajo way, this is where the thinking, planning, implementing, and evaluating of all of the hopes and prayers for a good life of the Navajo people take place.”
Shirley’s prepared remarks also noted that visitors to the chamber, whether they are children, elders or even new Navajo Nation Council delegates, instantly recognize its significance.
“They are awestruck because this place has the feeling of a sacred cathedral, which it truly is.”