410 



EAGLE HILLS ASSINIBOIN EARTH LODGE 



[ B. A. E. 



eagles. Near the present Hopi villages 

 there are shrines in -which offerings of 

 eagle eggs carved from wood are placed 

 during the winter solstice for the increase 

 of eagles. Among the Zufii, feathers shed 

 by their captive eagles have special sig- 

 nificance, though the feathers are also 

 regularly plucked and form a staple arti- 

 cle of trade. 



The mythology of almost every tribe is 

 replete with eagle beings, and the wide- 

 spread thunderbird myth relates in some 

 cases to the eagle. In Hopi myth the 

 Man-eagle is a sky-beingwholaysasidehis 

 plumage after flights in which he spreads 

 devastation, and the hero who slays him 

 is carried to the house in the sky by 

 eagles of several species, each one in its 

 turn bearing him higher. The Man- 

 eagle myth is widelj^ diffused, most triljes 

 regarding this being as a manifestation 

 of either heljiful or maleficent power. 



See Fewkes, Property Rights in Eagles 

 among the Hopi, Am. Anthrop., ii, 690- 

 707, 1900; Hoff- 

 man in 14th 

 Rep. B. A. E., 

 1896; Mooney 

 (1) ibid., (2) 

 in 19th Rep. 

 B. A. E., 1900. 



Eagle Hills 

 Assiuiboin. A 

 band of Assini- 

 boi n of 35 

 lodges living in 

 1808 between 

 Bear hills and 

 South Saskatch- 



PAWNEE EARTH LODGE 



ewan r., Assiniboia, Canada. — Henry- 

 Thompson Jour., Cones ed., ii, 523, 1897. 

 Earth lodge. A dwelling partly under- 

 ground, circular in form, from 30 to 60 ft 

 in diameter, with walls about 6 ft high, 

 on which rested a dome-shaped roof with 

 an opening in the center to afford light 

 within and to permit the egress of smoke. 

 The entrance was a projecting passage- 

 way from 6 to 14 ft long. The method 

 of construction was first to draw a circle 

 on the ground and excavate the earth 

 within it from 2 to 4 ft deep. About 1^ 

 ft within the circle were set crotched 

 posts some 8 or 10 ft apart, on which 

 were laid beams. Outside these posts 

 were set others, one end of them braced 

 against the bottom of the bank of earth 

 at the periphery of the circle, and the 

 other end leaning against the beams, 

 forminga close stockade, an opening being 

 left at the e. side for the entrance. Mid- 

 way between the center of the excavation 

 and the stockade were planted 4, 6, or 8 



tall crotched posts, forming an inner cir- 

 cle. In the crotches were laid heavy 

 beams to support the I'oof. The bark 

 was stripped from all the posts and 

 beams. The roof was formed of long, 

 slender, tapering tree trunks, stripped of 

 bark. The large ends were tied with 

 strings of the inner bark of the elm to the 

 beams at the top of the stockade, and the 

 middle to those resting in the crotches of 

 the inner circle of posts. The slender 

 ends were cut so as to form the circular 

 opening in the center of the roof, 2 or 3 

 ft in diameter. Outside this framework 

 l)ranches of willow were placed close to- 

 gether across the posts of the wall and 

 the beams of the roof, and bound tightly 

 to each pole, beginning at the ground and 

 continuing upward to the central open- 

 ing. Over the willow branches a heavy 

 thatch of coarse dried grass was laid, tied 

 in bundles and arranged so that it would 

 shed water. Over the thatch was placed 

 a thick coating of sods, cut so that they 

 could be lap- 

 ped, and laid 

 like shingles. 

 The wall and 

 roof were after- 

 w^ard carefully 

 tamped with 

 earth and made 

 impervious to 

 rain. The long 

 entranceway 

 was built in the 

 same manner as 

 the lodge, and 

 thatched and 

 sodded at the 

 same time. The grass of the sod continued 

 to grow, and wild flowers brightened the 

 walls and roof of the dwelling. The 

 blackened circle around the central open- 

 ing in the roof, produced by the heat and 

 smoke, was the only suggestion that the 

 verdant mound was a human abode. 

 Within, the floor was made hard by a 

 series of tampings, in which both water 

 and fire were used. The fireplace was 

 circular in shape and slightly excavated. 

 A curtain of skin hung at the opening 

 from the passageway into the lodge. The 

 outer door was covered with a skin that 

 was stiffened by sticks at the top and 

 bottom, which was turned to one side to 

 give entrance to the passageway. The 

 couches of the occupants were placed 

 around the wall, and frequently were in- 

 closed by reed mats which could be raised 

 or lowered. More than one family some- 

 times occupied a lodge, and in such case 

 the families took different sides. The 

 back part, opposite the entrance, was re- 



