People of Darkness

Hillerman uses the term as an informal reference to a Navajo cult within the peyote religion, a pan-Indian, semi-Christian religious movement. The rituals of the peyote religion involve ingesting peyote cactus buttons containing mescaline, a hallucinogenic substance that produces psychotropic effects. The term "People of Darkness" originates in Navajo myths relating to the mole, which was the sacred totem animal adopted by the Navajo peyote cult.