The Dark Wind (1982)

A small community located on the Navajo Indian Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The community has a mission, a school, and a post office, and is located on the southeast edge of Black Mesa.

A state located along the Atlantic coast in New England and one of the thirteen original British colonies in North America. Connecticut officially became a state in 1788 and its capital is Hartford, located in the north-central area of the state. Connecticut has been home to many notable figures including: Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Benedict Arnold, Eli Whitney, and Samuel Colt. The Ivy League university, Yale, is located in New Haven, Connecticut.

Connecticut is the 3rd smallest state in the U.S. and is bordered by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York. Known as the “Constitution State”, “Land of Steady Habits”, and “Nutmeg State”, as of 2010, Connecticut has a population of 3,574,097. The word Connecticut comes from the Algonquian word “land on the long tidal river.” The state tree is a White Oak (Quercus alba) and the state bird is the American Robin (Turdus migratorius). The topography of the state includes the southern New England section of the Appalachian Mountains, numerous lakes, highlands, and low lands.

The Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, operated by the city of Phoenix, has been the primary airport for the state of Arizona since 1935. When it opened, there was only one runway. Today, there are three runways, and it is one of the top ten busiest airports in the U.S. Approximately 1,200 airplanes, carrying roughly 100,000 passengers, arrive and depart from the airport daily.

The Coconino Rim is a common name for the rim of the southern portion of the Colorado Plateau in Arizona, within the Coconino National Forest. It is part of the Mogollon Rim Ranger District and reaches 2000 feet in height in some areas. From this viewpoint, one can see the vast scenery and landscape of Arizona.

An undercut is a rock formation that develops when a body of water erodes the base of a rock. This erosion results in an overhanging top layer of rock that protrudes past the lower layer of the rock. In the desert, these may exist in areas where there was once water, or where the water is impermanent and irregular.

A federal surveyor is someone who works for the U.S. Department of the Interior and Geological Survey to survey land and create maps based on their surveys. Federal surveyors are experts in aspects of geology, elevation, drainage, topography, and a variety of distinct terrains. After taking their measurements from above and below ground, they are able to create accurate maps and establish boundaries on federal land. In many cases, federal surveyors work on Native American reservations.

When the U.S. government surveyed the western states, they used markers to block out quadrangle shaped sections. A topographical map for each quadrangle was then created. The quadrangles are often imperfect in shape and size, but are usually about 7.5 minutes (a measure of latitude and longitude) in size and named after a local feature. Despite their imperfections, the maps still provide a geologic tool for mapping the vast space of the western U.S.

The Navajo Road Department is a part of the Navajo Department of Transportation and is responsible for the building and maintaining roads in and between Navajo Nation communities. The majority of this work takes place on dirt roads in times of snow, rain, and after flooding.

Chicago is the third most populated city in the United Stated, after New York and Los Angeles. The city is the cultural and arts center of the Midwest with many museums, comedy clubs, and theaters. The city is known for improvisational comedy (one of its nicknames is "Second City," after one of its most famous theaters) as well as deep dish pizza, large ethnic communities (especially Polish), its location on Lake Michigan, and its public art and parks. While the city is also known as the “Windy City,” it is not in fact any windier than the average U.S. city. This name more likely came from an association with long-winded politicians.

The name Chicago comes from a French interpretation of the word shikaakwa, from the Miami-Illinois language, which means wild leek, onion, or garlic. In the 17th century, the area was populated by the Potawatomi people, prior to which it was home to the Miami, Sauk, and Fox peoples. Chicago’s first French settlement was founded in the 1780s by Jean Baptiste Point du Sable.

Also known as Second Mesa, and sometimes spelled Mishongovi, Mishongnovi is one of three villages located on Second Mesa within the network and community of the Hopi people spread out across the three mesas within Black Mesa in Arizona. The area of all three mesas makes up the Hopi reservation. Each of the mesas has its own cultural and spiritual significance to the Hopi people, and similarly, each village maintains its own traditions and rituals even while there is overlap among them. Mishongnovi is located on the eastern side of Second Mesa, which also includes the villages of Shipaulovi and Shongopovi. The Hopi word Mishongnovi means "Place of the Black Man" and may refer to the leader who brought the people to the villages in the thirteenth century. Ruins of previous village structures dating from the 13th century to the 1680s are located near the current village.