complementary nature god of the north and west,
who is not so uniformly benignant as the former. In the ceremonies which
follow the erection of a hogan today the structure is dedicated to both
these deities, but the door is invariably placed to face the east, that
the house may be directly open to the influences of the more kindly
disposed Qastceyalci.

When a movement of a family has been completed, the first care of the
_qasci[ng]_, or head of the family, is to build a dwelling, for which
he selects a suitable site and enlists the aid of his neighbors and
friends. He must be careful to select a place well removed from hills
of red ants, as, aside from the perpetual discomfort consequent on
too close a proximity, it is told that in the underworld these pests
troubled First-man and the other gods, who then dwelt together, and
caused them to disperse.

[Illustration: Fig. 230--The three main timbers of a hogan]

A suitable site having been found, search is made for trees fit to make
the five principal timbers which constitute the _qo[.g]an tsaci_, or
house frame. There is no standard of length, as there is no standard of
size for the completed dwelling, but commonly pinon trees 8 to 10 inches
in diameter and 10 to 12 feet long are selected. Three of the five
timbers must terminate in spreading forks, as shown in figure 230, but
this is not necessary for the other two, which are intended for the
doorway and are selected for their straightness.

When suitable trees have been found, and sometimes they are a
considerable distance from the site selected, they are cut down and
trimmed, stripped of bark, and roughly dressed. They are then carried or
dragged to the site of the hogan and there laid on the ground with their
forked ends together somewhat in the form of a T, extreme care being
taken to have the butt of one log point to the south, one to the west,
and one to the north. The two straight timbers are then laid down with
the small ends close to the forks of the north and south timbers and
with their butt ends pointing to the east. They must be spread apart
about the width of the doorway which they will form.

When all the timbers have been laid out on the ground, the position
of each one of the five butts is marked by a stone or in some other
convenient way, but great care must be exercised to have the doorway
timbers point exactly to the east. Sometimes measurements are made
without placing the timbers on the si