102 PUEBLO ARCHITECTURE. 
The house is always built in the form of a parallelogram, the walls 
being from 7 to 8 feet high, and of irregular thickness, sometimes vary- 
ing from 15 to 22 inches in different parts of the same wall. 
Pine, pinon, juniper, cottonwood, willow, and indeed all the available 
trees of the region are used in house construction. The main beams 
for the roof are usually of pine or cottonwood, from which the bark has 
been stripped. The roof is always made nearly level, and the ends of 
the beams are placed across the side walls at intervals of about 2 feet. 
Above these are laid smaller poles parallel with the side,walls, and not 
more than a foot apart. Across these again are Jaid reeds or small 
willows, as close together as they can be placed, and above this series 
is crossed a layer of grass or small twigs and weeds. Over this frame- 
work a layer of mud is spread, which, after drying, is covered with 
earth and firmly trodden down. The making of the roof is the work of 
the women. When it is finished the women proceed to spread a thick 
coating of mud for a floor. After this follows the application of plaster 
to the walls. Formerly a custom prevailed of leaving a small space on 
the wall unplastered, a belief then existing that a certain Katchina 
‘ame and finished it, and although the space remained bare it was con- 
sidered to be covered with an invisible plaster. 
The house being thus far completed, the builder prepares four feath- 
ers similar to those prepared by the chief, and ties them to a short piece 
of willow, the end of which is inserted over one of the central roof 
beams. These feathers are renewed every year at the feast of Soyal- 
yina, celebrated in December, when the sun begins to return north 
ward. The builder also makes an offering to Maésauwu (called “feed- 
ing the house”) by placing fragments of food among the rafters, be- 
seeching him not to hasten the departure of any of the family to the 
under world. 
A hole is left in one corner of the roof, and under this the woman 
builds a fireplace and chimney. The former is usually but a small 
cavity about a foot square in the corner of the floor. Over this a chim- 
ney hood is constructed, its lower rim being about 35 feet above the 
floor. 
As a rule the house has no eaves, the roof being finished with a 
stone coping laid flush with the wall and standing a few inches higher 
than the roof to preserve the earth covering from being blown or washed 
away. Roof-drains of various materials are also commonly inserted in 
the copings, as will be described later. 
All the natives, as far as could be ascertained, regard this single- 
roomed house as being complete in itself, but they also consider it the 
nucleus of the larger structure. When more space is desired, as when 
the daughters of the house marry and require room for themselves, 
another house is built in front of and adjoining the first one, and a see- 
ond story is often added to the original house. The same ceremony is 
observed in building the ground story in front, but there is no cere- 
mony for the second and additional stories. 
