The supporting post in front in this case was so short that the use of its fork would have made the roof too low.  To overcome this the side beams were not laid directly in the fork, but a tablet or short piece of wood was inserted, as shown in figure 234, and the timbers rest on this.  The entrance or open front faced to the northwest, and to protect it from the evening sun a temporary shelter of pinon brush was put up, as shown in the illustration.  This feature is a common accompaniment of summer shelters and is often found with the regular winter hogan.

  [Illustration:  Fig. 234—­Supporting post in a summer hut]

Figure 235 shows another type of summer shelter in plan, and figure 236 is a section of the same.  It is of the “lean-to” type, and consists of a horizontal beam resting on two forked timbers and supporting a series of poles, the upper ends of which are placed against it.  The structure faces the east, and the southern end is closed in like a hogan, but it was covered only with cedar boughs laid close together without an earth facing.

This shelter stood upon a slope and the timbers used in its construction were small and crooked.  Perhaps on account of these disadvantages the interior was excavated, after the shelter was built, to a depth of nearly 24 inches on the higher side, as shown in figure 236.  By this expedient the space under the shelter was greatly enlarged.  The excavation was not carried all the way back to the foot of the rafters, but, as shown in the section, a bench or ledge some 18 inches wide was left, forming a convenient place for the many little articles which constitute the Navaho’s domestic furniture.

  [Illustration:  Fig. 235—­Ground plan of a summer hut]

Mention has been made before of this interior bench, which is an interesting feature.  It has been suggested by Mr Victor Mindeleff, whose well-known studies of Pueblo architecture give his suggestions weight, that we have here a possible explanation of the origin of the interior benches which are nearly always found in the kivas or ceremonial chambers of the Pueblo Indians, that the benches in the kivas may be survivals of archaic devices pertaining to the primitive type from which Pueblo architecture developed.  If a low wall of masonry were used as a support for rafters, in the manner shown in figure 237, and additional space were sought by excavation, the form shown in the illustration would be retained, for the construction would be seriously weakened if the rude stonework were placed directly on the edge of the excavation.  Possibly this practice has some bearing on the Pueblo requirement that the kivas should be at least partly excavated, a requirement still rigidly adhered to.  The conservatism of the Indian mind in matters connected with their ceremonials is well known, and forms and practices long abandoned in ordinary house construction still survive in the building of the kivas.