Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology: to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1886-1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891
History
Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology: to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1886-1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891
Navajo Indians -- Rites and ceremonies; Pueblo Indians -- Antiquities; Pueblo architecture
is not so common as on external ones, as there is not the same necessity
for holding together the poles, the sides of the opening performing that
office.
There are two places in Zuni, portions of the densest house cluster,
where the needs of unusual traffic have been met by the employment of
double ladders, made of three vertical poles, which accommodate two
tiers of rungs. The sticks forming the rungs are inserted in continuous
lengths through all three poles, and the cross pieces at the top are
also continuous, being formed of a single flat piece of wood perforated
by three holes for the reception of the tips of the poles. In additional
to the usual cross pieces pierced for the reception of the side poles
and rudely carved into ornamental forms, many temporary cross pieces are
added during the harvest season in the early autumn to support the
strips of meat and melons, strings of red peppers, and other articles
dried in the open air prior to storage for winter use. At this season
every device that will serve this purpose is employed. Occasionally
poles are seen extending across the reentering angles of a house or are
supported on the coping and rafters. The projecting roof beams also are
similarly utilized at this season.
Zuni ladders are usually provided with about eight rungs, but a few have
as many as twelve. The women ascend these ladders carrying ollas of
water on their heads, children play upon them, and a few of the most
expert of the numerous dogs that infest the village can clumsily make
their way up and down them. As described in a previous section all
houses built during the year are consecrated at a certain season, and
among other details of the ceremonial, certain rites, intended to
prevent accidents to children, etc., are performed at the foot of the
ladders.
In Tusayan, where stone is abundant, the ladder has not reached the
elaborate development seen in Zuñi. The perforated cross piece is rarely
seen, as there is little necessity for its adoption. The side poles are
held together by the top and bottom rungs, which pass entirely through
the side pieces and are securely fixed, while the ends of the others are
only partly embedded in the side pieces. In other cases (Pl. XXXII) the
poles are rigidly held in place by ropes or rawhide lashings.
Short ladders whose side poles are but little prolonged beyond the top
rung are of common occurrence, particularly in Oraibi. Three such
ladders are shown in Pl. LXXXIV. A similar example may be seen in Pl.
CVII, in connection with a large opening closed with rough masonry. In
these cases the rungs are made to occupy slight notches or depressions
in the upright poles and are then firmly lashed with rawhide, forming a
fairly rigid structure. This type of ladder is probably a survival of
the earliest form of the pueblo ladder.
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