Mortar for the walls is prepared by the women. Gray clay is generally used and it needs only the addition of water to make a heavy, sticky mortar. The women do much of the work but they often call on the men for help. As the walls rise, prayer sticks are buried in the corners. These small, carved sticks are offerings to the Gods and assure the stability of the house. When the walls are as high as the builders’ heads, three or four heavy poles are laid across as main roof supports. Over these is spread a thatch of brush and withes and the roof is finished off with a layer of adobe three or four inches thick. It takes only a few days to build the house if the builders are in a hurry but they seldom are. The house can be completed long before the boy’s weaving is finished, so the work is done leisurely. House building is a pleasant task. All of the close relatives in the girl’s clan work together and the hours are filled with laughter and practical jokes. There is much feasting and, of course, a happy celebration when the house is finished. As the little structure rises there is a deep satisfaction in the hearts of the builders. They are helping a young couple reach their ultimate goal. To the home-loving people this goal is marriage, a home and children. Their lives point toward that end. This tiny room will be home to the young couple for the rest of their lives. It is small, not over six by eight feet in size and the roof is so low that the husband will have to duck his head to miss the beams. The one door is very small, measuring only sixteen inches in width and twenty-four inches in height. The door sill is almost three feet above the floor and it will be awkward for the short, chubby little bride who is scarcely five feet tall. She will have difficulty straddling through the high opening, and will not dare grow too fat in later years. Older women often get so heavy that they can hardly squeeze through the tiny doors. But it has always been the custom to make the doors small and time-honored custom means more than the comfort of fat women. There are no windows in the house and it has no firepit. Few of the women have fires inside their houses and cooking is done in the courts. Some of the older women who suffer from rheumatism and arthritis have fires in their houses but the smoke is very bad. The final step in the construction of the house is the plastering. This is left to the young bride-to-be and she does it with loving care. A smooth coat of plaster, a few red designs and the house is finished. Her husband will come to live in it with her but it will always be her property. She is terribly proud of it. Being uncivilized she feels that her home and children will be the most important things in her life.