+-----------------+---------------+-------+-------+-------+-
------+ |Space between |At apex | 1 10 | 2 0 | 1 2 | 1 10 | | doorway timbers |At base | 3 8 | 3 0 | 3 0 | 3 5 | +-----------------+---------------+-------+-------+-------+-
------+

In the large hogans mentioned a crowd of workers are engaged in the construction and ropes and other mechanical aids are employed to lift the heavy timbers of the frame in position.

At this stage in the construction the house shows only the three principal timbers of the frame, securely locked at the apex by the interlacing forks (as shown in figure 231) and firmly planted in the ground.  The two doorway timbers are next placed in position, with their smaller ends resting on the forked apex of the frame, from 1-1/2 to 2 feet apart, and with the butt ends resting on the ground about 3-1/2 feet apart.  The whole frame, comprising five timbers, is known as tsaci, but each timber has its own specific name, as follows: 

  South timber, cacaace naai. 
  West timber, i[ng]i[ng]ace naai. 
  North timber, naqokosce naai. 
  Doorway timbers (two), tci[ng][)e]cince naai.

The appearance of the frame as seen from below is shown in figure 231.

  [Illustration:  Fig. 231—­Frame of a hogan, seen from below]

These names afford a good illustration of the involved nomenclature which characterizes Indian languages. Naai means a long, straight object, like a piece of timber.  The first word in each of the terms above is the name of the cardinal point, the place it occupies (south, west, and north), with the suffix ce, meaning “here” or “brought here.”  The same words are used with the suffix dje, instead of ce, as cacaadje naai for the north timber, dje meaning “there” or “set there.”  The west timber is also specially designated as bigidje nabkad, “brought together into it,” an allusion to its functions as the main support of the frame, as the two other timbers rest within its spreading fork.  The two doorway timbers are also designated as north timber and south timber, according to the position each occupies, and they are sometimes called tci[ng][)e]cin b[)i]n[)i]n[)i]’li, “those in place at the doorway passage.”  A full nomenclature of hogan construction will be found in another section.

When the tsaci, or frame of five timbers, is completed the sides are filled with smaller timbers and limbs of pinon and cedar, the butt ends being set together as closely as possible on the ground and from 6 to 12 inches outside of the excavated area previously described.  The timbers and branches are laid on as flat as possible, with the upper ends leaning on the apex or on each other.  The intervening ledge thus formed in the interior is the bench previously mentioned, and aside from its convenience it adds materially to the strength of the structure.