Arizona republican., 1900-11-07
PASSING OF THE "KIE"
Pimas Abandoning Use of Wickiup as
 Dwelling.

The primitive style of architecture is fast disappearing from among the Pimas The 'ke" or 'kih." pronounc- ed in d measure like the word key, with a gutteral accent predOminating, will soon be used no more as a dwell ing. It was, in fact. a bad weather house and served its purpose well enough when both manners and morals were unstudied and untaught; but as the Pimas advance in the scale of civ ilization they find that living in a "kie" is not convenient or pleasant, and they are as result building adobe houses and even better. says a writer in the Native American.
 The style of habitation referred to as a ''kie' is among white people more familiarly known as a "wickiup." The structure is strongly built. the founda- tion. as it were, consisting of four stout mesquite posts, forked, and sunk a matter of two feet in the ground. Then rafters are placed on top and 1 brush, gathered from along the river, is ranged along the sides, the tops be- ing bent downward. forming a very creditable arch. considering the materi- als used. The interstices are plastered with adobe mud and the structure is made perfectly air tight with the ex- ception of the low entrance and an opening al the top. A half dozen men could tramp around on the top of the ''kie" at any time except in wet wealth CT and do no injury
 A dwelling only five feet high and 1 eighteen or twenty feet in circunfar- ence is, obviously, rather cramped, es- pecially when the family is large and the whole outdoors is free to every one. | Consequently the "kie'' is hardly usad | in hot weather, a brush shed being much preferred. It may be that the 1 fields of the family are some distance away and when this is the case it is not unusual during the growing season t0 see the low entrance closed with inc | branches of trees against predatory animals.
 | In winter the old Indian goes bacl. to | his 'kie." He builds a fire in the cen- | ter of the room, the smoke escaping i through the hole in the top. The fire is kept going during the entire twenty four hours. being replenished at inter- Vals in the night. No beds ara used.
 the sleeping people lying on blankets or
 mats. close to the dry earth.
 1 A visitor to Pima village observes
 as a matter of curiosity that the en-
 frances to the "kies' squarely face the
 east. As far as known no other tribe of Indians in the southwest observes
 this rule. There seems to be no sig nificance in the custom except that 1 when the entrance is thus placed it
 catches the early rays of the winter
 sun, and is sheltered from the burning
 rays in summer. The rule is honored in its non-Observance when the "kie'
 is abandoned and the family moves in
 to an adobe, where they may be com
 fortable through the various seasons,
 use cook stove and sleep on beds.
 The furnishings of ''kie" are neces-
 sarily of the most primitive kind, con- sisting of the bedding referred ro, few
 earthen ollas of water jugs and a pas
 ket or two for holding grain. The
 Pima. like the Apache, at one time held
 the superstition that it is unlucky to
 live in a ''kie" after a death occurs Tn
 a family and the structure was accord
 ingly deserted. The influence of Chris
 tianity has largely uprooted this super
 stition from among the Pimas. large ! number of whom are now living m adobe houses some of which are most : substantially and neatly buiItS ana : have windows and doors and $ningle ? roofs.
 Another primitive utensil fast Gc:na
 out of use among the Pimas is the stone mill The stone mill is probably , low. The grinding is done with the