ountain districts,
and were built of logs, often hewn square before being laid in place.
Plate LXXXVIII shows a stone house belonging to one of the wealthiest
men in the tribe, Bitcai by name. It is situated on the western slope of
the Tunicha mountains and was built some years ago, but it is a type of
house which is becoming more and more frequent on the reservation. There
is practically nothing aboriginal about it except a part of its interior
furniture and its inhabitants, and the only one of the old requirements
that has been met is the fronting of the house to the east, while the
character of the site and the natural conditions demand a western front.

The log houses referred to are constructed much like the stone house
shown in the illustration, except that they are built usually by Indian
labor and ordinarily are covered with flat earthen roofs. Frequently the
logs are hewn square before being placed in the walls, which present
a very neat and finished appearance. Sometimes door and window frames
are procured from the sawmill or from the traders, and add to such
appearance, while nearly always one or more glazed sashes occupy the
window openings and board doors close the entrances. In nearly all cases
the requirement that the entrance should face the east is observed, but
it is being more and more ignored, and in the houses constructed within
the last few years the ancient custom is frequently violated. Unless the
principal entrance were made to face the east, the performers in the
dedicatory ceremonies could not take their prescribed positions and the
ceremony would have to be either modified or omitted altogether.

CEREMONIES OF DEDICATION

Among the Pueblo Indians there are certain rituals and ceremonial
observances connected with the construction of the houses, but in the
Navaho system nothing of a ceremonial nature is introduced until the
conclusion of the manual labor. Usually there are enough volunteers to
finish the work in one day, and by evening everything is ready for the
dedication. The wife sweeps out the house with a wisp of grass and she
or her husband makes a fire on the floor directly under the smoke hole.
She then goes to her bundles of household effects, which are still
outside, and pours a quantity of white cornmeal into a shallow
saucer-shape basket. She hands this to the _qasci[ng]_, or head of the
family, who enters the hogan and rubs a handful of the dry meal on the
five principal timb