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Navaho Houses, pages 469-518 - Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to - the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1895-1896, - Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898 by Cosmos Mindeleff
page 37 of 75 (49%)
this shelter on a low hill overlooking the fields which he cultivates.
The restriction which requires that the opening or doorway of a regular
hogán shall invariably face the east does not apply to these shelters;
they face in any direction, but usually they are so placed as to face
away from the prevailing wind, and, if possible, toward the fields or
farms.

[Illustration: Fig. 233--Ground plan of a summer shelter]

Figure 233 is a ground plan of a shelter of this type, which is shown
also in plate LXXXV. The effect is that of a half hogán of the regular
type, but with a short upright timber in place of the usual north piece.
The example shown is built on a somewhat sloping site, and the ground
inside has been slightly excavated, but on the front the floor reaches
the general level of the ground. The principal timbers are forked
together at the apex, but not strictly according to rule. The structure
is also covered with earth in the regular way, and altogether appears
to occupy an intermediate position between the summer shelter and the
winter hut. It is a type which is common in the mountain districts and
in those places where a semipermanent shelter is needed, and to which
the family returns year after year.

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 piñon 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 hogán.
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