first the rainbows from north to south, then the sunbeams from east to west.  According to this account the other four houses at the cardinal points were similarly made of wood, the different substances mentioned being used merely for covering.  Other traditions hold that the houses were made entirely of the substances mentioned and that no wood was used in their construction because at that time no wood or other vegetal material had been produced.

After mankind had ascended through the three underworlds by means of the magic reed to the present or fourth world, Qastceyalci, the God of Dawn, the benevolent nature god of the south and east, imparted to each group of mankind an appropriate architecture—­to the tribes of the plains, skin lodges; to the Pueblos, stone houses; and to the Navaho, huts of wood and earth and summer shelters.  Curiously enough, nowhere in Navaho tradition is any mention or suggestion made of the use by them of skin lodges.

In building the Navaho hogan Qastceyalci was assisted by Qastceqo[.g]an, the God of Sunset, the 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.