After mankind had ascended through the three underworlds by means of the
magic reed to the present or fourth world, Qastcéyalçi, the God of Dawn,
the benevolent nature god of the south and east, imparted to each group
of mankind an appropriate architecture--to the tribes of the plains,
skin lodges; to the Pueblos, stone houses; and to the Navaho, huts of
wood and earth and summer shelters. Curiously enough, nowhere in Navaho
tradition is any mention or suggestion made of the use by them of skin
lodges.

In building the Navaho hogán Qastcéyalçi was assisted by Qastcéqoġan,
the God of Sunset, the complementary nature god of the north and west,
who is not so uniformly benignant as the former. In the ceremonies which
follow the erection of a hogán today the structure is dedicated to both
these deities, but the door is invariably placed to face the east, that
the house may be directly open to the influences of the more kindly
disposed Qastcéyalçi.

When a movement of a family has been completed, the first care of the
_qasçíŋ_, or head of the family, is to build a dwelling, for which
he selects a suitable site and enlists the aid of his neighbors and
friends. He must be careful to select a place well removed from hills
of red ants, as, aside from the perpetual discomfort consequent on
too close a proximity, it is told that in the underworld these pests
troubled First-man and the other gods, who then dwelt together, and
caused them to disperse.

[Illustration: Fig. 230--The three main timbers of a hogán]

A suitable site having been found, search is made for trees fit to make
the five principal timbers which constitute the _qoġán tsá¢i_, or house