At several points around Zuñi, usually at a greater distance than the terrace gardens, are fields of much larger area inclosed in a similar manner. Their inclosure was simply to secure them against the depredations of stray burros, so numerous about the village. When the crops are gathered in the autumn, several breaches are made in the low wall and the burros are allowed to luxuriate on the remains. [Pl. LIX] indicates the position of the large cluster of garden patches on the southeastern side of Zuñi. [Fig. 110], taken from photographs made in 1873, shows several of these small gardens with their growing crops and a large field of corn beyond. The workmanship of the garden walls as contrasted with that of the house masonry has been already described and is illustrated in [Pl. XC].
Fig. 110. Gardens of Zuñi.
[ “KISI” CONSTRUCTION.]
Lightly constructed shelters for the use of those in charge of fields were probably a constant accompaniment of pueblo horticulture. Such shelters were built of stone or of brush, according to which material was most available.
In very precipitous localities, as the Canyon de Chelly, these outlooks naturally became the so-called cliff-dwellings or isolated shelters. In Cibola single stone houses are in common use, not to the exclusion, however, of the lighter structures of brush, while in Tusayan these lighter forms, of which there are a number of well defined varieties, are almost exclusively used. A detailed study of the methods of construction employed in these rude shelters would be of great interest as affording a comparison both with the building methods of the ruder neighboring tribes and with those adopted in constructing some of the details of the terraced house; the writer, however, did not have an opportunity of making an examination of all the field shelters used in these pueblos. Two of the simpler types are the “tuwahlki,” or watch house, and the “kishoni,” or uncovered shade. The former is constructed by first
planting a short forked stick in the ground, which supports one end of a pole, the other end resting on the ground. The interval between this ridge pole and the ground is roughly filled in with slanting sticks and brush, the inclosed space being not more than 3 feet in height, with a maximum width of four or five feet. These shelters are for the accommodation of the children who watch the melon patches until the fruit is harvested.
