HUILDING. 



23 



gill liiis her own water vase as soou as she is olil enough to accompany 

 her aiotlicr to the river in the capacity of assistant water-carrier, and 

 thus they begin at a very early age to poise the vase, Egyptian fashion, 

 on their heads. 



There is no employment in pueblo life that the women and children 

 seem so thoroughly to enjoy as the processes of house building. (Fig. 

 5.) It is the woman's prerogative to do most of this work. (Fig.*!.) 

 Men make the adobe bricks when these are to be nsed. In Sia the houses 

 are adobe and small bowlders which are gathered from the ruins among 

 which they live. It is only occasionally that a new house is constructed. 

 The older ones are remodeled, and these are always smoothly i)lastered 



Fig. 6.— Women and girls bringing: ctay. 



on the exterior and interior, so that there is no evidence of a stone wall. 

 (PI. VI.) The men do all carpenter work, and the Sia are remarkably 

 clever in this branch of mechanism, considering their crude imjilements 

 and entire absence of foreign instruction. They also lay the heavy 

 beams, and they sometimes assist in other work of the building. When 

 it became known that the writer wished to have the earth hardened 

 under and in front of her tents the entire female population ai)peared 

 at the camp ready for work, and for a couple of days the winds 

 wafted over the plain the merry chatter and laughter of young and old. 

 The process of laying the tent floors was the same as the Sia observe 

 in making floors in their houses. A hoe is employed to break the 



