60. The Hang-e or Ceremonial House of the Northern Miwok of

Hachana Village near Railroad Flat, Calaveras County, California

C. Hart Merriam

(The following description of a ceremonial house was written from a half-
dozen sheets of carefully made, but unorganized notes made by C. Hart Merriam
on October 9 and 10, 1906. Ed.)

The house is round and stands on top of a low knoll,   The main
door faces nearly northeasto I believe this orientation was due
to an error, since customarily the door faces north, and several
Indians with whom I spoke about it thought in fact that the door
did face due north.  The second door is at the opposite side of

the structure (facing southwest) and is closed during ceremonies.
The exterior walls form a 12-sided polygon about 40 feet in di-
amete r.

The vertical walls consist of 12 upright posts, spaced equally
around the perimeter, these vertical posts being connected by two
horizontal rows of peeled poles, the lowest circuit measuring 15
inches above the floor, the upper row being 68 inches above the

floor and running flush with the topsof the vertical postso The
horizontal poles lie in notches cut into the uprightso The ver-
tical exterior sheathing is nailed to the horizontal poles.

Arranged in a square in the center are 4 tall centerposts with
4 large, smooth, peeled horizontal beams laid from the top of one
to the other to form a square. Resting on the corners of this

square are the ends of 4 curved or bowed poles upon which the mid-
point of the radiating roof rafters rest, The curve is supported
by 2 short blocks set under each of the 4 bowed beams, The fire-

place is in the center of the floor equidistant from the 4 center-
posts.,

The roof rafters number 24, half being long and half short

rshort rafters not shown in Fig. 7a]. The long rafters rest on

the upright wall posts. Between each two long rafters are shorter
ones which rest upon the square superstructure raised on top of

the 4 centerposts, and on the uppermost horizontal pole which ties
the tops of the short side-uprights togethero The long rafters

are cut so that a circular smokehole about 3 feet in diameter is

left at the point where they converge, and they are here lashed to
a circular hoop. On the rafters and at right angles to them are
nailed 15 courses of sheathing boards upon which are nailed the
split roof shakes. The rafters overhang the outer wall about 6
inchesO

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The floor is level with the outside ground surface (i.e. not
sunken) and is thickly covered with fresh green needlesCoT Pinus
ponderosa in anticipation of the ceremony shortly to be helT.

The footdrunm, a rectangular plank 2 feet wide and 7 feet long
is placed over a hole 4 feet deep situated between the outer wall
and the centerpost square.

The singer, moo-le-peh, stands in front of the plank drum,

The drummer, too-mup-peh, beats time by dancing with bare feet on
the plank. An old man said that a hollow log makes a better drwn,
and that there used to be one in the older ceremonial house which
stood farther out on the promontory, and whose location is marked
by a pit.

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