Part 3 (1/2)

Plate Lx.x.xVIII 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 ill.u.s.tration, 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 princ.i.p.al 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 gra.s.s 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 quant.i.ty of white cornmeal into a shallow saucer-shape basket. She hands this to the _qasci?_, or head of the family, who enters the hogan and rubs a handful of the dry meal on the five princ.i.p.al timbers which form the _tsai_ or frame, beginning with the south doorway timber. He rubs the meal only on one place, as high up as he can reach easily, and then does the same successively on the south timber, the west timber, the north timber, and the north doorway timber.

While making these gifts, as the proceeding is termed, the man preserves a strict silence, and then, as with a sweeping motion of his hand from left to right (_cabikego_, as the sun travels) he sprinkles the meal around the outer circ.u.mference of the floor, he says in low measured tones--

_Qojonli_ _cogan_ May it be delightful my house;

_Citsi'dje_ _qojonli_ From my head may it be delightful;

_Cikee_ _qojonli_ To my feet may it be delightful;

_Ciyae_ _qojonli_ Where I lie may it be delightful;

_Cikigi altso_ _qojonli_ All above me may it be delightful;

_Cina altso_ _qojonli_ All around me may it be delightful.

He then flings a little of the meal into the fire, saying--

_Qojonli hoce_ _ciko?_ May it he delightful and well, my fire.

and tosses a handful or two up through the smoke hole, saying--

_Qojonli_ _Tci?hanoai_ _cica naiicni'_ May it be delightful Sun (day carrier), my mother's ancestor, for this gift;

_Qojonli_ _nacale_ _cogan_ May it be delightful as I walk around my house.

Then two or three handfuls of meal are sprinkled out of the doorway while he says--

_Qojonli_ _cae'cin_ _cica_ May it be delightful this road of light, my mother's ancestor.

The woman then makes an offering to the fire by throwing a few small handfuls of meal upon it, and as she sprinkles it she says in a subdued voice--

_Qojonli_ _ciko?_ May it be delightful my fire;

_Qojonli_ _caltcini_ _altso yahoce_ May it be delightful for my children; may all be well;

_Qojonli_ _cibeacan_ _altso yahoce_ May it be delightful with my food and theirs; may all be well;

_altso cinalgeya_ _yahoce olel'_ All my possessions well may they be made (that is, may they be made to increase);

_altso cil'i?_ _yahoce olel'_ All my flocks well may they be made (to increase).

When a hogan is built for a woman who has no husband, or if the husband is absent at the time, the wife performs all these ceremonies. In the absence of white cornmeal, yellow cornmeal is sometimes used, but never the _cqaici? ocli'j_, the sacred blue pollen of certain flowers, which is reserved exclusively for the rites of the shaman.

By the time these forms have been observed night will have fallen.