its under the western side of the hut and
directs the young men in the process of sand painting, the making of
curious sand mosaics delineating mythologic subjects. The materials used
are dry sand, charcoal, and powdered ochers of different colors, which
are poured from the hand between the thumb and fingers. Without the use
of a brush or other implement the trickling stream is guided to form
intricate designs. These designs are made directly on the earthen floor
in a zone about 3 feet wide and extending nearly the entire length of
the hut from north to south. This zone, called the _ika'_, is made in
front of the _qacal'i_, and between him and the fire, which is reduced
to small dimensions to enable him to work close under the opening in
the roof. During the process the door is closed with the usual hanging
blanket, and to increase the light from above a buckskin or white cloth
is sometimes suspended as a reflector on a light frame of boughs erected
on the roof on the western side of the smoke hole.

[Illustration: Fig. 243--Diagram showing measurements of Yeb[)i]tcai
house]

The mask recess, which is found in all the larger hogans, is always made
in the middle of the western side of the _iyacaskuni_. It is usually
somewhat wider and deeper than in the ordinary dwelling. The bundles
containing the masks and other paraphernalia to be used in the ceremony
are placed in the recess by the _qacal'i_, who then fastens a skin or
cloth across it. The upper edge at a height of about 3 feet from the
floor is fastened with strings to the sloping timbers. The lower edge is
held by small pegs driven into the edge of the bench-like ledge of earth
which marks the limits of the floor. When he needs them the _qacal'i_
reaches behind the curtain for the paraphernalia he has previously
prepared and deposited there. The masks must never be seen except when
worn by the dancers, nor are the fetiches exposed except when certain
rites demand their display.

This recess is called by the Navaho _dj[)i]c b[)i]naskla_, literally
"mask recess." Besides its practical use it has a mythic significance,
as it indicates the position occupied by First-man, who sat there with
Qastceyalci (Dawn) and Qastceqo[.g]an (Twilight) on either hand, in the
house where the Corn people were made. They also occupied similar
positions in the house in which they made the celestial bodies, and
also in the first _iyacaskuni_, which was made by them to celebrate
the