This one's a wrap!

Sorry, but I've moved on to other topics and projects so I probably won't be updating this blog so go HERE. If I update this one, I'll let you know via the OTHER BLOG.

Thanks for reading.

H. Quam

B-Side

Here is a b-side to something that happened in October 2009.

dearredeyes

No more posts on this for awhile so go over here.

The Long-Horn House (THE MOVIE!)

I made a short video about the house in Zuni. Watch it RIGHT HERE and enjoy it.

The Long-Horn House from Brandon H. Quam on Vimeo.

Counting down

The Othole family is counting down the days, less than a week remains until the Long-Horn House will open it's doors to welcome the people of Zuni and their ancestors. There are just a few appliances that need to be installed and everyone is working around the clock to make sure everything is ready for big weekend.

Na'na Bernard would like to move the shed to the family sheep camp.

Every man at the Long-Horn House with a ball hitch and chain has their own idea of moving the shed. When Casa put the chain around the bottom middle beam and tried to pull the shed, the beam came out from beneath the shed nearly pulling the shed to it's side.

Herrin has hauled several loads of sand to level out the mound the stew house and ovens sit on. Charlie helps Herrin shovel the sand out.

The stew house has gone up fast. A few of the men finish the roof.

Each person is focused on their individual tasks. Finishing the roof, shoveling sand to level the inside of the stew house and finishing the hornos.

After working on the stew house's roof, Ricky takes a break.

Gordon shovels sand into a wheelbarrow so that it can be spread inside the stew house. When the stew house gets put to use, ladies will make several different stews in about five huge black cauldrons.

Larry inspects his ovens. He has been making outdoor ovens for more than 13 years.

Larry and his sister shape the outside of the oven with mud and hay.

Herrin uses his tractor to level out the mound while Larry continues with his ovens.

Inside the house, J.R. shows his nephew David where to hammer in the nail on the dry wall on the west side of the house.

On the roof of the house, Julius is waterproofing the top layer of the stone bricks.

As a child, Julius lived in the old house and is very pleased how the Long-Horn House is coming along. Having worked on the house everyday, he is going to miss working at the Long-Horn House.

Julius' sidekick, Vernon, is also one of the men who have worked at the house almost everyday. Vernon has been at Julius' side helping with the exterior of the house.

At night, the men install a backdoor on the west side of the house.

Across the village and a couple hours after dinner, the ladies have decided to make hot tamales for the next day's cooking/feeding extravaganza.

After making the tamales, the ladies clean up so they can go home and get some rest for tomorrow's cooking/feeding day.

"Can I have both eyeballs?"

Less than a week from now, the Long-Horn house will finally be put to use. Women will be going in and out of the house, walking across the street and heading to the hornos where piles of freshly chopped wood will be waiting. Carrying the traditional scent of outdoor smoke on their best aprons and their hair made up by the winter breeze, the women will cook all day and all night in either the Long-Horn house, the stew house or out by the hornos. The women have one task: to cook. The men will be out chopping wood, hunting game and getting things finalized for the big week, but before December comes, here's how the house is coming together in it's final week.

The men have been split into two groups: one to finish the inside of the Long-Horn house and the other to finish the stew house.

Once again, concrete is being made to build the stew house.

The men work as a team. Everyone has a job. From shoveling the sand into buckets, to lifting the buckets into the mixer, pouring concrete into wheelbarrows, and then pasting the concrete bricks on top of each other.

Two inseparable smoking brothers on their break.

Next to the stew house, A man has volunteered his time and skill to build three hornos. The base will be filled with rock, sand and ash.

Herrin is digging up rocks to fill up base of the hornos.

Inside the Long-Horn house, electricity is available and a wood stove is installed to keep the house warm during the chilly days.

A few of the men taking a break.

Eddie and Hiram are gluing wood together for the base of the windows. A small accent that will bring out the beauty of the house.

In the bottom floor bathroom, Gordon and Gordon have finished putting up the water proof dry wall and start cutting out the square for the window.

"Corn" inspects the Gordons's job.

Two men finish installing the insulation and dry wall on the second floor.

On the outskirts of the village, the women are preparing vegetable stew for dinner while a sheep is being butchered next door at grandma's house.

Grandma takes a break from cleaning what's left of the sheep.

The sheep's eyeballs are always fought over by my 7-year-old nephew and my grandma. Soon, there will be plenty of mutton stew and sheep head to go around.

This "busy" will soon be an understatement.

With December just around the corner and the second story up, the Othole family know that it is the bottom floor that must be completed by late November. The family is getting busier by the coming weeks which calls for more cooking and baking.

Arriving to Zuni late Friday night, Brenda sets the table for tomorrow's meal.

Mornings and evenings are becoming colder each day in Zuni.

Before his wife Brenda starts telling Gordon to run errands for her, Gordon sits and enjoys his morning cup of coffee.

Just like every weekend, Brenda and her sisters start breakfast for the men.

Tortillas are never bought.

After finishing his coffee, Gordon chops wood for the hornos.

Grandma Laura shows her hands before mixing the dough.

While the other women are preparing breakfast, Sherdine sits on the couch for a while. Her husband died in a car accident in June and it is obvious today that she misses him.

The "old house" has been changed to the "long-horn house" because the house is no longer old and we are building it for the long-horn group.

George starts sanding lumber for the ceiling.

The man in the ceiling on the far right is installing the lumber for the ceiling.

Na'na Bernard and Eddie install the insulation in the rest of the first floor. Na'na has chosen not to wear the protective suit.

On the other side of the house, sheet rock has been nailed to the walls and electricity will soon be available.

Outside of the Long-Horn house, some of the men have started laying concrete for the foundation for the stew house. The stew house will be used by the women to cook stew in.

As the men call it a day at the Long-Horn house, Julius shows his dry working hands.

Across the village, a cow has been delivered from Dulce, New Mex., and the Othole family waste no time in butchering it.

The Zuni people believe that every animal has a purpose and are not squeamish when it comes to butchering this cow or any animal. Every part of the animal will be used.

At night, some of the girls start a fire in one of the hornos so that the women can put some food in it to cook overnight.

While there's a fire, the kids get a hold of some jumbo marsh mellows for roasting.

On Sunday, the Long-Horn group will be hauling about 12 truck loads of wood, so Gordon, Avery, Eddie, Bert and Bernard woke up at 7 a.m. to build something to hold and organize the wood.

Sunday is also a baking day for the women. The Long-Horn group's female family members have come to bake bread.

One of the women starts the fire in one of the hornos. The horno on the left already has meat in it and is sealed with a stone slab and mud.

In the late afternoon, the bread is ready to be taken out of the horno.

Not long after the bread is out, the first wave of trucks come with wood.

Hiram throws a log on top of the pile.

There were 10 truck loads of wood brought to the house and in the coming weeks, more wood will be hauled.

As the weekend ends, the Othole family realizes that from here on out, weekends will get busier and soon every day will be as busy as this past weekend.