Page:The Pima Indians.pdf/160

] Lieutenant Emory estimated the size of the ki at from 25 to 50 feet in diameter, which is much too high. From 10 to 25 feet would have been much nearer the true diameter. The average dimensions are as follows:

The absence of a smoke hole is noteworthy, as it is almost universally present in primitive dwellings. Its absence can not be explained by the fact that the mildness of the climate permits the Pimas to spend most of their time in the open air and build their fires outside, because in winter fires are maintained within to such an extent that the roofs become loaded with masses of soot. It would seem probable that the roofs were not provided with openings in order that the houses might be as little open to the attack of the Apaches as possible were it not for the fact that the Cocopas and others living southwest of the Pimas build huts similarly devoid of smoke vents, which suggests that the Pimas have come from that quarter where the torrid heat renders indoor fires unnecessary at any season. The doorways were low and narrow for the same reason (60 by 90 cm. in size). They were closed by pieces of old blankets (pl., b), by slats woven together with rawhide, or by loose sticks of wood (pl. , e, f).

In each village a low rectangular council house afforded a meeting place for the men and at times the women also of the community. Rev. C.H. Cook informs the writer that he has addressed an audience of as many as 80 persons in one of these houses, all bending low to avoid the smoke. The last council house was destroyed at Pé-eptcĭlt in January, 1902.

Another form of dwelling place was the woman's menstrual lodge, which was a mere shelter of branches to afford protection from the sun.

The fourth type of dwelling is the arbor, or, as some of the early writers termed it, 'the bower.' It is a cottonwood framework supported by crotched posts, roofed with arrowwood and earth, affording a shade from the sun, from which protection is desirable during