The Dark Wind (1982)

A public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is the state's flagship research institution. Founded in 1889 and commissioned by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, the first president was Elias S. Stover. UNM offers bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degree programs in many disciplines. In addition to the North and South Campus locations, found in the center of Albuquerque, there are five branch campuses associated with the university, with locations in Rio Rancho, Gallup, Los Alamos, Taos, and Los Lunas. UNM has one of the largest student and faculty populations of Hispanics and Native Americans in the country. Additionally, the university’s main campus is known for its Pueblo Revival style architecture and award-winning landscape designs.

Navajo weavers are considered masters in the art of weaving, the art and craft of twining fibers together to create a variety of textiles.

In the early 1600s, the Navajo learned weaving from their Pueblo neighbors in what is now the Southwestern U.S.. It was men who mastered first mastered this skill, although women eventually absorbed the task. Weavers in the U.S. Southwest used wooden looms, sheep's wool, and natural dyes to make hand-woven blankets that were used in everyday life as cloaks, covers, and saddle blankets, among other items. Throughout the 1700s, Navajo textiles became a major commodity in trading with the region's other indigenous groups, as well as the Spanish and Europeans. Over time, weaving techniques improved, patterns became more elaborate, and Navajo textiles came to be desired for their aesthetic value. As the market developed, blankets became interchangeable as rugs and were valued as decorative, rather than utilitarian, pieces. Today hand-woven Navajo rugs are highly prized and are often purchased by wealthy collectors to be hung on the wall rather than used as the daily objects they originally were.

An alloy is a metal that is made by combining at least two other metals or a metal and a nonmetal element. The characteristics of an alloy are different than the characteristics of the separate elements. Aluminum alloy includes mainly aluminum. By combining aluminum and copper, in the right amounts, results in a lightweight metal that is stronger and lighter than either aluminum or copper were before they were combined. Because they are relatively light, aluminum alloys are commonly found in transportation technologies including aerospace equipment, automobiles, and cycling frames.

People of various Native American tribes often carry with them a small pouch, usually made of deer skin, which contains a few items that have totemic, spiritual, and ceremonial value. This bundle is believed to provide protection and healing, and is carried under the person’s clothes, either on a string around the neck or under the waist belt. It may contain small, natural objects such as special rocks, animal parts, or carved amulets, and usually also includes sacred pollen, which is commonly used in a variety of prayers and rituals. The Navajo word for medicine pouch is jish, which applies to both the small bag and its contents.

A firearm, usually a handgun, with the capacity to fire multiple times prior to reloading. A revolver has a revolving cylinder, usually with six chambers, each of which can be loaded with a single cartridge. As the firearm is fired, the cylinder advances, or rotates, bringing the next cartridge into position for firing.

One of the clans of the Navajo people. There are at least sixty known Navajo clans, many of which are named after specific places located on or around what is today the Navajo Nation Reservation. The Red Forehead clan might be named not after a locality but after the red head of the Sandhill cranes that are commonly found along the rivers and marsh area of the American Southwest.

The layer of rock that tops some geological uplifts. Often seen in the form of a wall or cliff, rimrock forms a cap and sometimes even an overhang over the softer rock beneath, which, as it erodes, can create sculpturesque forms in the remaining geologic material, including caves.

A rifle is a firearm with an extended barrel that is generally raised up to the shoulder for firing. The interior surface of the long barrel is carved with spiral grooves down its length. The length of the barrel, in combination with its interior grooves, improves the accuracy of the shot fired by increasing the stability of the projectile as it spins out of the barrel. The rifle, as opposed to another long-barreled firearm, the shotgun, fires a single projectile at a time.

A continuous elevation of land that extends in a line between higher mountain peaks. Sometimes ridges descend from a higher peak toward lower elevations, giving a mountain a vertically-grooved appearance. Occasionally, ridges occur as singular components of the landscapes.

Resin is a liquid hydrocarbon secreted by some plants as a form of protection. If the plant is damaged, resin seeps from the wound, hardening as it dries into a protective layer. Natural resin can be harvested sustainably from trees, after which it is rendered into a variety of substances such as varnishes, glues, perfumes, and incense.

Dried resin, known as rosin, in a powdered form is used to increase friction between surfaces, such as between a bow and the strings of an instrument, or the hands of gymnasts and rockclimbers and the surfaces with which they engage. Rosin, which is also known as colophony, is a man-made substance that is produced by distilling the liquid resin until it condenses and solidifies. The final product can range in color; it is usually yellow or orange, but can be almost white or, alternately, close to black. While rosin is solid at room temperature, it melts easily and is used as an ingredient in a variety of products such as soaps, varnishes, adhesives, and sealing materials.

In Tony Hillerman's 1980 Navajo detective novel PEOPLE OF DARKNESS, rosin is mentioned in a natural setting, and probably refers to hardened resin rather than the chemically-produced substance.