concerning such primitive types of house structures are quite rare. It is also thought to be of interest to the archeologist and ethnologist as well as to the general reader, for it is well known that no one product of a people’s art exhibits so clearly their mental attitude and their industrial status as the houses which they build.

Much of the material here presented was obtained some ten years ago, when the recent changes which have taken place in Navaho life had only just begun. Although the same processes are now employed in house construction as formerly, and although the same ceremonies are observed, they are not so universally nor so strictly adhered to as they were. The present tendency is such that in a comparatively short time the rules for the construction of a hogán which have been handed down through many generations and closely followed, and the elaborate ceremonies of dedication which formerly were deemed essential to the well-being of the occupants, will be so far modified as to be no longer recognizable, if, indeed, they are not altogether abandoned. Such being the case, even a bare record of the conditions which have prevailed for at least two centuries must be of value.

As the architecture of a primitive people is influenced largely by the character of the country in which they live, a brief description of the Navaho reservation is deemed necessary. Similarly, the habits of life of the people, what a naturalist would term their life history, which in combination with the physical environment practically dictates their arts, is worthy of notice, for without some knowledge of the conditions under which a people live it is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain an adequate conception of their art products.

The winter hogáns are the real homes of the people, but as the form and construction of these are dictated by certain rules and a long line of precedents, supported by a conservatism which is characteristic of savage life, the summer shelters, which are largely exempt from such rules, are of considerable interest. Moreover, the effects of modern conditions and the breaking down of the old ideas should have some place in a discussion of this kind, if only for the hint afforded as to the future of the tribe.

The elaborate ceremonies of dedication which in the old days always followed the construction of a house, and are still practiced, exhibit almost a new phase of Indian culture. The essentially religious character of the Indian mind, and his desire to secure for himself and for his family those benefits which he believes will follow from the establishment of a perfect understanding with his deities—in other words, from the rendering of proper homage to benignant deities and the propitiation of the maleficent ones—are exhibited in these ceremonies. The sketch of them which is here given, the songs which form a part of the ceremony, and the native explanations of some of the features will, it is believed, assist to a better understanding of Indian character.

Finally, the rather full nomenclature of parts and elements of the house which forms the last section of this memoir will probably be of service to those who find in language hints and suggestions, or perhaps direct evidence, of the various steps taken by a people in the course of their development. As the writer is not competent to discuss the data from that point of view, it is presented here in this form for the benefit of those who are. Some suggestions of the derivation of various terms are given, but only as suggestions.

Much of the material which is comprised in this report was collected by the late A. M. Stephen, who lived for many years among the Navaho. His high standing and universal popularity among these Indians gave him opportunities for the collection of data of this kind which have seldom been afforded to others. Some of the notes and sketches of Mr Victor Mindeleff, whose studies of Pueblo architecture are well known, have been utilized in this report. The author is indebted to Dr Washington Matthews, the well-known authority on the Navaho Indians, for revising the spelling of native terms occurring throughout the text.

In the present paper two spellings of the Navaho word for hut are used. The proper form is qoġán, but in and around the Navaho country it has become an adopted English word under the corrupt form hogán. Thus nearly all the whites in that region pronounce and spell it, and many of the Indians, to be easily understood by whites, are pronouncing it lately in the corrupted form. Therefore, wherever the term is employed as an adopted English word, the form hogán is given, but where it is used as part of a Navaho phrase or compound word the strictly correct form qoġán is preserved.

An inverted comma (‘) following a vowel shows that the vowel is aspirated.

An inverted comma following l shows that the l‘ is aspirated in a peculiar manner—more with the side than with the tip of the tongue.

ŋ represents the nasalized form of n.

ġ represents the Arabic ghain.

In other respects the alphabet of the Bureau is followed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY

The Navaho reservation comprises an extensive area in the extreme northeastern part of Arizona and the northwestern corner of New Mexico (plate LXXXII). The total area is over 11,000 square miles, of which about 650 square miles are in New Mexico; but it would be difficult to find a region of equal size and with an equal population where so large a proportion of the land is so nearly worthless. This condition has had an important effect on the people and their arts, and especially on their houses.

The region may be roughly characterized as a vast sandy plain, arid in the extreme; or rather as two such plains, separated by a chain of mountains running northwest and southeast. In the southern part of the reservation this mountain range is known as the Choiskai mountains, and here the top is flat and mesa-like in character, dotted with little lakes and covered with giant pines, which in the summer give it a park-like aspect. The general elevation of this plateau is a little less than 9,000 feet above the sea and about 3,000 feet above the valleys or plains east and west of it.

The continuation of the range to the northwest, separated from the Choiskai only by a high pass, closed in winter by deep snow, is known as the Tunicha mountains. The summit here is a sharp ridge with pronounced slopes and is from 9,000 to 9,400 feet high. On the west there are numerous small streams, which, rising near the summit, course down the steep slopes and finally discharge through Canyon Chelly into the great Chinlee valley, which is the western of the two valleys referred to above. The eastern slope is more pronounced than the western, and its streams are so small and insignificant that they are hardly worthy of mention.

Still farther to the northwest, and not separated from the Tunicha except by a drawing in or narrowing of the mountain mass, with no depression of the summit, is another part of the same range, which bears a separate name. It is known as the Lukachukai mountains. Here something of the range character is lost, and the uplift becomes a confused mass, a single great pile, with a maximum altitude of over 9,400 feet.

Northwest of this point the range breaks down into Chinlee valley, but directly to the north is another uplift, called the Carriso mountains. It is a single mass, separated from the range proper by a comparatively low area of less than 7,000 feet altitude, while the Carriso itself is over 9,400 feet above the sea.

The western and northwestern parts