orresponding to the width of his house. Stones are also gathered and
roughly dressed, and in all these operations he is assisted by his
friends, usually of his own gens. These assistants receive no
compensation except their food, but that of itself entails considerable
expense on the builder, and causes him to build his house with as few
helpers as possible.

The material having been accumulated, the builder goes to the village
chief, who prepares for him four small eagle feathers. The chief ties a
short cotton string to the stem of each, sprinkles them with votive
meal, and breathes upon them his prayers for the welfare of the proposed
house and its occupants. These feathers are called Nakwa kwoci, a term
meaning a breathed prayer, and the prayers are addressed to Masauwu, the
Sun, and to other deities concerned in house-life. These feathers are
placed at the four corners of the house and a large stone is laid over
each of them. The builder then decides where the door is to be located,
and marks the place by setting some food on each side of it; he then
passes around the site from right to left, sprinkling piki crumbs and
other particles of food, mixed with native tobacco, along the lines to
be occupied by the walls. As he sprinkles this offering he sings to the
Sun his Kitdauwi, house song: "Si-ai, a-hai, si-ai, a-hai." The meaning
of these words the people have now forgotten.

Mr. Stephen has been informed by the Indians that the man is a mason and
the woman the plasterer, the house belonging to the woman when finished;
but according to my own observation this is not the universal practice
in modern Tusayan. In the case of the house in Oraibi, illustrated in
Pl. XL from a photograph, much, if not all, of the masonry was laid, as
well as finished and plastered, by the woman of the house and her female
relatives. There was but one man present at this house-building, whose
grudgingly performed duty consisted of lifting the larger roof beams and
lintels into place and of giving occasional assistance in the heavier
work. The ground about this house was strewn with quantities of broken
stone for masonry, which seemed to be all prepared and brought to the
spot before building began; but often the various divisions of the work
are carried on by both men and women simultaneously. While the men were
dressing the stones, the women brought earth and water and mixed a mud
plaster. Then the walls were laid in irregular courses, us