476 NAVAHO HOUSES [ETH. ANN. 17 
some place in a discussion of this kind, if only for the hint afforded as 
to the future of the tribe. 
The elaborate ceremonies of dedication which in the old days always 
followed the construction of a house, and are still practiced, exhibit 
almost a new phase of Indian culture. he essentially religious 
character of the Indian mind, and his desire to secure for himself and 
for his family those benefits which he believes will follow from the 
establishment of a perfect understanding with his deities—in other 
words, trom the rendering of proper homage to benignant deities and 
the propitiation of the maleficent ones—are exhibited in these cere- 
monies. The sketch of them which is here given, the songs which 
form a part of the ceremony, and the native explanations of some of 
the features will, it is believed, assist to a better understanding of 
Indian character. 
Finally, the rather full nomenclature of parts and elements of the 
house which forms the last section of this memoir will probably be of 
service to those who find in language hints and suggestions, or per- 
haps direct evidence, of the various steps taken by a people in the 
course of their development. As the writer is not competent to discuss 
the data from that point of view, it is presented here in this form for 
the benefit of those who are. Some suggestions of the derivation of 
various terms are given, but only as suggestions. 
Much of the material which is comprised in this report was collected 
by the late A. M. Stephen, who lived for many years among the Navaho. 
His high standing and universal popularity among these Indians gave 
him opportunities for the collection of data of this kind which have 
seldom been afforded to others. Some of the notes and sketches of Mr 
Victor Mindeleff, whose studies of Pueblo architecture are well known, 
have been utilized in this report. The author is indebted to Dr Wash- 
ington Matthews, the well-known authority on the Navaho Indians, for 
revising the spelling of native terms occurring throughout the text. 
In the present paper two spellings of the Navaho word for hut are 
used. The proper form is gogdn, but in and around the Navaho coun- 
try it has become an adopted English word under the corrupt form 
hogén. Thus nearly all the whites in that region pronounce and spell 
it, and many of the Indians, to be easily understood by whites, are 
pronouncing it lately in the corrupted form. Therefore, wherever the 
term is employed as an adopted English word, the form hogan is given, 
but where it is used as part of a Navaho phrase or compound word the 
strictly correct form gogdn is preserved. 
An inverted comma (‘) following a vowel shows that the vowel is 
aspirated. 
An inverted comma following J shows that the U‘ is aspirated in a 
peculiar manner—more with the side than with the tip of the tongue. 
y represents the nasalized form of n. 
g represents the Arabic ghain. 
In other respects the alphabet of the Bureau is followed. 
