Chapter 3

When all the timbers have been laid out on the ground, the position of each one of the five butts is marked by a stone or in some other convenient way, but great care must be exercised to have the doorway timbers point exactly to the east. Sometimes measurements are made without placing the timbers on the site, their positions and lengths being determined by the use of a long sapling. The interior area being thus approximated, all the timbers are removed, and, guided only by the eye, a rough circle is laid out, well within the area previously marked. The ground within this circle is then scraped and dug out until a fairly level floor is obtained, leaving a low bench of earth entirely or partly around the interior. This bench is sometimes as much as a foot and a half high on the high side of a slightly sloping site, but ordinarily it is less than a foot. The object of this excavation is twofold--to make a level floor with a corresponding increase in the height of the structure, and to afford a bench on which the many small articles constituting the domestic paraphernalia can be set aside and thus avoid littering the floor.

The north and south timbers are the first to be placed, and each is handled by a number of men, usually four or five, who set the butt ends firmly in the ground on opposite sides at the points previously marked and lower the timbers to a slanting position until the forks lock together. While some of the men hold these timbers in place others set the west timber on the western side of the circle, placing it in such a position and in such a manner that its fork receives the other two and the whole structure is bound together at the top. The forked apex of the frame is 6 to 8 feet above the ground in ordinary hogáns, but on the high plateaus and among the pine forests in the mountain districts hogáns of this type, but intended for ceremonial purposes, are sometimes constructed with an interior height of 10 or 11 feet, and inclose an area 25 to 30 feet in diameter. Following is a list of measurements of four typical hogáns:

_Measurements of typical hogáns_

+-------+-------+-------+-------+ |Ft. in.|Ft. in.|Ft. in.|Ft. in.| +-----------------+---------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ |Door frame |Height | 3 8 | 4 0 | 4 0 | 3 6 | | |Width | 3 8 | 1 8 | 1 6 | 1 9 | +-----------------+---------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ |Interior |North & south |17 10 |12 8 |14 9 |14 5 | | |East & west |18 0 |12 0 |15 0 |14 0 | +-----------------+---------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ |Height under apex | 7 9 | 6 6 | 7 0 | 6 9 | +-----------------+---------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ |Smoke hole |Width at apex | 1 10 | Very | 1 2 | 1 10 | | |Width at base | 3 0 | irre- | 2 4 | 2 10 | | |Length | 3 10 | gular | 3 0 | 3 0 | +-----------------+---------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ |Space between |At apex | 1 10 | 2 0 | 1 2 | 1 10 | | doorway timbers |At base | 3 8 | 3 0 | 3 0 | 3 5 | +-----------------+---------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

In the large hogáns mentioned a crowd of workers are engaged in the construction and ropes and other mechanical aids are employed to lift the heavy timbers of the frame in position.

At this stage in the construction the house shows only the three principal timbers of the frame, securely locked at the apex by the interlacing forks (as shown in figure 231) and firmly planted in the ground. The two doorway timbers are next placed in position, with their smaller ends resting on the forked apex of the frame, from 1-1/2 to 2 feet apart, and with the butt ends resting on the ground about 3-1/2 feet apart. The whole frame, comprising five timbers, is known as _tsá¢í_, but each timber has its own specific name, as follows:

South timber, _ca¢aá¢e naaí_. West timber, _iŋiŋá¢e naaí_. North timber, _náqokos¢e naaí_. Doorway timbers (two), _tcíŋĕçin¢e naaí_.

The appearance of the frame as seen from below is shown in figure 231.

These names afford a good illustration of the involved nomenclature which characterizes Indian languages. _Naaí_ means a long, straight object, like a piece of timber. The first word in each of the terms above is the name of the cardinal point, the place it occupies (south, west, and north), with the suffix _¢e_, meaning “here” or “brought here.” The same words are used with the suffix _dje_, instead of _¢e_, as _ca¢aádje_ _naaí_ for the north timber, _dje_ meaning “there” or “set there.” The west timber is also specially designated as _bigídje nabkád_, “brought together into it,” an allusion to its functions as the main support of the frame, as the two other timbers rest within its spreading fork. The two doorway timbers are also designated as north timber and south timber, according to the position each occupies, and they are sometimes called _tcíŋĕçin bĭnĭnĭ´li_, “those in place at the doorway passage.” A full nomenclature of hogán construction will be found in another section.

When the _tsá¢i_, or frame of five timbers, is completed the sides are filled with smaller timbers and limbs of piñon and cedar, the butt ends being set together as closely as possible on the ground and from 6 to 12 inches outside of the excavated area previously described. The timbers and branches are laid on as flat as possible, with the upper ends leaning on the apex or on each other. The intervening ledge thus formed in the interior is the bench previously mentioned, and aside from its convenience it adds materially to the strength of the structure.

While the sides are being inclosed by some of the workers a door-frame is constructed by others. This consists simply of two straight poles with forked tops driven into the ground at the base of and close inside of the doorway timbers, as shown in figure 232. When in place these poles are about 4 feet high, set upright, with a straight stick resting in the forks, as shown clearly in plate LXXXIV. Another short stick is placed horizontally across the doorway timbers at a point about 3-1/2 feet below the apex, at the level of and parallel with the cross-stick of the door-frame. The space between this cross-stick and the apex is left open to form an exit for the smoke. Sometimes when the hogán is unbearably smoky a rough chimney-like structure, consisting of a rude cribwork, is placed about this smoke hole. Such a structure is shown in plate LXXXIII.

The doorway always has a flat roof formed of straight limbs or split poles laid closely together, with one end resting on the crosspiece which forms the base of the smoke hole and the other end on the crosspiece of the door-frame. The whole doorway structure projects from the sloping side of the hogán, much like a dormer window. Sometimes the doorway roof is formed by a straight pole on each side of the smoke hole crosspiece to the crosspiece of the door-frame, supporting short sticks laid across and closely together with their ends resting on the two poles. This style of doorway is shown in plate LXXXIV.

The sides of the projecting doorway--that is, the spaces between the roof and the sloping doorway timbers--are filled in with small sticks of the required length. Sometimes the ends of these sticks are bound in place with twigs of yucca, being made fast to the door-frame, but generally they are merely set in or made to rest against the outer roof covering. Usually the larger timbers are roughly dressed on the sides toward the interior of the hut, and the smaller poles also are stripped of bark and rough hewn.

The entire structure is next covered with cedar bark; all the interstices are filled with it, and an upper or final layer is spread with some regularity and smoothness. Earth is then thrown on from base to apex to a thickness of about six inches, but enough is put on to make the hut perfectly wind and water proof. This operation finishes the house, and usually there are enough volunteers to complete the work in a day.

It is customary to make a kind of recess on the western side of the hut by setting out the base of the poles next to the west timber some 8 to 15 inches beyond the line. This arrangement is usually placed next to and on the south side of the west timber, and all the poles for a distance of 3 or 4 feet are set out. The offset thus formed is called the “mask recess,” and when a religious ceremony is performed in the hogán, the shaman or medicine-man hangs a skin or cloth before it and deposits there his masks and fetiches. This recess, of greater or less dimensions, is made in every large hogán, but in many of the smaller ones it is omitted. Its position and general character are shown in the ground plan, plate XC. In the construction of a hogán all the proceedings are conducted on a definite, predetermined plan, and the order sketched above is that ordinarily followed, but nothing of a ceremonial nature is introduced until after the conclusion of the work of construction.

SUMMER HUTS OR SHELTERS

The rules which govern the building of a regular hogán or winter house, although clearly defined and closely adhered to, do not apply to the summer huts or shelters. These outnumber the former and are found everywhere on the reservation, but they are most abundant in the mountain regions and in those places where horticultural operations can be carried on.

These structures are of all kinds and of all degrees of finish, although certain well-defined types, ancient in their origin, are still closely adhered to when the conditions permit. But under other circumstances the rudest and most primitive shelters are constructed, some of them certainly not so high in the scale of construction as an ordinary bird’s nest. There is a certain interest that attaches to these rude attempts, as they exhibit the working of the human mind practically untrammeled by precedent.

Perhaps the most primitive and simple shelter the Navaho builds is a circle or part-circle of green boughs, generally pine or cedar. Half an hour of work by two men with axes is all that is required to erect one of these. A site having been selected, a tree is felled on the windward side, and the branches trimmed from it are piled up to a height of 4 or 5 feet on three sides of a circle 15 or 20 feet in diameter. A fire is built in the center and the natives dispose themselves around it. Blankets are thrown over outstanding branches here and there, affording an abundance of shade in the hot summer days when even a little shade is agreeable. Rude as this shelter is, it is regarded by the Navaho as sufficient when no better is available. During the recent construction of some irrigating ditches on the reservation, when from 50 to 100 men were employed at one time, this form of shelter was the only one used, although in several instances the work was carried on in one place for five or six weeks. Shelters of this kind, however, are possible only in a wooded region, and are built only to meet an emergency, as when a man is away from home and there are no hogáns in the vicinity where he can stop.

Another form, scarcely less rude, is sometimes found in localities temporarily occupied for grazing or for horticulture. It consists of a circle of small branches, sometimes of mere twigs, with the butts stuck into the ground, and not over 2-1/2 or 3 feet high. The circle is broken by a narrow entrance way on one side. This form of shelter, hardly as high as a man’s waist, does little more than mark the place where a family have thrown down their blankets and other belongings, but it may afford some protection against drifting sand. Shelters of this type are occupied several months at a time. They are often seen on the sandy bottom lands of Canyon Chelly and in other regions of like character, and the same sites are sometimes occupied several years in succession.

From these rude makeshift types there is an unbroken range up to the standard winter hut, which also meets the requirements of a summer house, being as comfortable in warm weather as it is in cold weather. The kind of house which a man builds depends almost entirely on the purposes which it is to serve and very little on the man or his circumstances. The houses of the richest man in the tribe and of the poorest would be identical unless, as often happens in modern times, the former has a desire to imitate the whites and builds a regular house of stone or logs. If, however, a man builds a summer place to which he intends to return year after year, and such is the usual custom, he usually erects a fairly substantial structure, a kind of half hogán, or house with the front part omitted. If it is possible to do so he locates this shelter on a low hill overlooking the fields which he cultivates. The restriction which requires that the opening or doorway of a regular hogán shall invariably face the east does not apply to these shelters; they face in any direction, but usually they are so placed as to face away from the prevailing wind, and, if possible, toward the fields or farms.

Figure 233 is a ground plan of a shelter of this type, which is shown also in plate LXXXV. The effect is that of a half hogán of the regular type, but with a short upright timber in place of the usual north piece. The example shown is built on a somewhat sloping site, and the ground inside has been slightly excavated, but on the front the floor reaches the general level of the ground. The principal timbers are forked together at the apex, but not strictly according to rule. The structure is also covered with earth in the regular way, and altogether appears to occupy an intermediate position between the summer shelter and the winter hut. It is a type which is common in the mountain districts and in those places where a semipermanent shelter is needed, and to which the family returns year after year.

The supporting post in front in this case was so short that the use of its fork would have made the roof too low. To overcome this the side beams were not laid directly in the fork, but a tablet or short piece of wood was inserted, as shown in figure 234, and the timbers rest on this. The entrance or open front faced to the northwest, and to protect it from the evening sun a temporary shelter of piñon brush was put up, as shown in the illustration. This feature is a common accompaniment of summer shelters and is often found with the regular winter hogán.

Figure 235 shows another type of summer shelter in plan, and figure 236 is a section of the same. It is of the “lean-to” type, and consists of a horizontal beam resting on two forked timbers and supporting a series of poles, the upper ends of which are placed against it. The structure faces the east, and the southern end is closed in like a hogán, but it was covered only with cedar boughs laid close together without an earth facing.

This shelter stood upon a slope and the timbers used in its construction were small and crooked. Perhaps on account of these disadvantages the interior was excavated, after the shelter was built, to a depth of nearly 24 inches on the higher side, as shown in figure 236. By this expedient the space under the shelter was greatly enlarged. The excavation was not carried all the way back to the foot of the rafters, but, as shown in the section, a bench or ledge some 18 inches wide was left, forming a convenient place for the many little articles which constitute the Navaho’s domestic furniture.

Mention has been made before of this interior bench, which is an interesting feature. It has been suggested by Mr Victor Mindeleff, whose well-known studies of Pueblo architecture give his suggestions weight, that we have here a possible explanation of the origin of the interior benches which are nearly always found in the kivas or ceremonial chambers of the Pueblo Indians, that the benches in the kivas may be survivals of archaic devices pertaining to the primitive type from which Pueblo architecture developed. If a low wall of masonry were used as a support for rafters, in the manner shown in figure 237, and additional space were sought by excavation, the form shown in the illustration would be retained, for the construction would be seriously weakened if the rude stonework were placed directly on the edge of the excavation. Possibly this practice has some bearing on the Pueblo requirement that the kivas should be at least partly excavated, a requirement still rigidly adhered to. The conservatism of the Indian mind in matters connected with their ceremonials is well known, and forms and practices long abandoned in ordinary house construction still survive in the building of the kivas.

Plate LXXXVI shows a shelter somewhat resembling that last described, but of more simple construction. Here the main crosspiece which forms the front of the shelter is supported by forked upright timbers, as in the previous example, and here also the fork of the main upright is too large and has been filled in.

Aside from the types described, which illustrate the more common forms of summer shelters, all kinds and degrees of variation are found. As they, unlike the regular hogán, do not follow any rule or precedent, their form depends largely on the facilities or the particular requirements or abilities of the builder. Figure 238 shows a shelter in the mountains, where timber is abundant. Except that it is not covered with earth and has no door-frame, it might be classed as a regular hogán.

Figure 239 shows a form that occurs in the valley regions where driftwood can sometimes be obtained. It is closely related to the “lean-to” type, but it is formed partly by excavating the side of a hill and is well covered with earth. It will be noticed that the front is partly closed by logs leaned against it and resting against the front crosspiece or ridgepole.

Figure 240 shows a type which is common in the valleys where timber is scarce and difficult to procure. Sage and other brush is used largely in the construction of shelters of this sort, as the few timbers which are essential can be procured only with great difficulty, and usually must be brought a great distance.

Plate LXXXVII shows a structure that might easily be mistaken for a summer shelter, but which is a special type. It is a regular hogán, so far as the frame and timber work go, but it is covered only with cedar boughs. The illustration shows a part of the covering removed. This structure was a “medicine hut,” put up for the performance of certain ceremonies over a woman who was ill. There are no traces of any fire in the interior, perhaps for the reason that the women’s ceremony is always performed in the day time. Aside from its lack of covering, it is a typical hogán, and the illustration conveys a good impression of the construction always followed. This kind of hut is called an _ĭnçá qoġán_.

Rude and primitive as these structures seem, a certain amount of knowledge and experience is necessary to build them. This has been discovered at various times by whites who have attempted to build hogáns and failed. An instance occurred not long ago where a trader, finding it necessary to build some kind of a travelers’ house, where Indians who came in to trade late in the evening or on Sunday could spend the night, decided to build a regular hogán. He employed several Navaho to do the work under his own supervision. The result was a failure, for, either on account of too much slope to the sides or for other reasons, the hogán does not remain in good order, and constant work on it is necessary to maintain it in a habitable condition.

SWEAT HOUSES

All over the reservation there are hundreds of little structures which are miniature models, as it were, of the hogáns, but they lack the projecting doorway. These little huts, scarcely as high as a man’s hip, look like children’s playhouses, but they occupy an important place both in the elaborate religious ceremonies and in the daily life of the Navaho. They are the sweat houses, called in the Navaho language _çó‘tce_, a term probably derived from _qáço‘tsil_, “sweat” and _ĭnçĭníl‘tce_, the manner in which fire is prepared for heating the stones placed in it when it is used. The structure is designed to hold only one person at a time, and he must crawl in and squat on his heels with his knees drawn up to his chin.

In the construction of these little huts a frame is made of three boughs with forked ends, and these have the same names as the corresponding timbers in a hogán. They are placed, as in the hogán, with the lower ends spread apart like a low tripod. Two straight sticks leaned against the apex form a narrow entrance, which, as in the hogán, invariably faces the east. Numerous other sticks and boughs inclose the frame, and enough bark and earth are laid on to make the structure practically air-tight when the entrance is closed.

When the place is to be used a fire is made close beside it, and in this fire numerous stones are heated. The patient to be treated is then stripped, placed inside the little hut, and given copious drafts sometimes of warm or hot water. The nearly red-hot stones are rolled in beside him and the entrance is closed with several blankets, forming in fact a hot-air bath. In a short time the air in the interior rises to a high temperature and the subject sweats profusely. When he is released he rubs himself dry with sand, or if he be ill and weak he is rubbed dry by his friends. This ceremony has a very important place in the medicine-man’s therapeutics, for devils as well as diseases are thus cast out; but aside from their religious use, the _çó‘tce_ are often visited by the Indians for the cleansing and invigorating effect of the bath, with no thought of ceremonial. The Navaho, as a race or individually, are not remarkable for cleanliness, but they use the _çó‘tce_ freely.