The Blessing Way (1970)

A throwing stick is a weapon for killing rabbits and other small mammals such as prairie dogs. It can be thrown long distances or used as a club to kill or stun prey and was used by men and women for hunting, both on foot and later on horseback.

The morphology of the throwing stick varies; the two most common types are a straight make-shift throwing stick made from dry oak or juniper branches. The second is a more carefully constructed curved stick with round grip and a stone-ground flattened body. There are other types beyond these two but they are less common.

A rocket is an aircraft propelled by the release of gases produced via the process of combustion. Rockets take the basic form of a tube with an elongated nose. A propellant, usually in the form of a highly flammable liquid, is contained in a tank in the end of the tube opposite from the nose. When the propellant is ignited, gases are released at high rates of speed and expansion, creating great force, or thrust. Because in nature for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction, as the high-pressure and therefore high-powered exhaust explodes from the rear end of the rocket tube, the rocket itself is propelled forward in the opposite direction.

Rockets have a long history in both military and recreational use. Chinese fireworks, for example, are a form of early rocket that date back to 10th century CE. A contemporary form of military rocket is the guided missile.

A form of cleansing one’s body using heat to encourage perspiration while in a structure with little to no ventilation. In the Navajo tradition, sweat baths are completed in a sweat house, which is a smaller form of the ordinary hogan, except that it has no smoke hole, as a fire is never kindled in it. Stones are heated in a fire outside and carried into the house, where they may then be doused with water and herbs to produce aromatic, healing vapors.

Also known as a brush hogan, a summer hogan is a temporary shelter typically made of three forked poles and covered with the boughs of cedar or piñon pine. These structures are generally used during summer, when it is too hot to have thick earthen-walled hogans. Summer hogans are also constructed for ceremonial use. When used for ceremonies, summer hogans are constructed with specific materials, depending on their purpose. For example, if a summer hogan is constructed for a ceremony to bring female rain, piñon branches would used, whereas for a ceremony to bring male rain, cedar would be used. Additionally, summer hogans take varied forms, depending on the use or need. If the hogan were being constructed for a ceremony, for example, and only a wind break would be needed, then the hogan might have only one wall.

Also known as a summer hogan, a brush hogan is a temporary shelter made of three forked poles and covered with the boughs of cedar or piñon pine. These structures are generally used during summer, because they catch the breeze better than earthen-walled hogans. Also, they are often constructed as temporary shelter at summer sheep camps, when families move with their herds to higher ground for summer forage.

Brush hogans are also constructed for ceremonial use. When used for ceremonies, brush hogans are constructed with specific materials, depending on their purpose. For example, if a brush hogan is constructed for a ceremony to bring female rain, piñon branches would used, whereas for a ceremony to bring male rain, cedar would be used. Additionally, brush hogans take varied forms, depending on the use or need. If the hogan were being constructed for a ceremony, for example, and only a wind break would be needed, then the hogan might have only one wall.

A seep, also known as a gravity spring, is an area where water slowly oozes from the ground and collects. A seep is created when the water table intersects with a fissure in the ground surface, causing the water to be pushed up through a fissure and collect on the surface.

Also known as a sweat lodge, a sweat house is a small structure used for ceremonial rituals that involve sweating as a way of purifying the self and connecting with the spiritual realm. Heat inside the sweat house is generated by large stones that are heated in a fire outside and carried into the house, where they are usually doused with water and herbs to produce aromatic, steaming vapors. Sweat houses are small, often partially sunk underground, do not have a ceiling hole, and instead of a door have an opening over which thick blankets, animal hides, or even brush are placed in order to keep the heat and steam inside.

Among the five branches of the Unites States military, the Army is a large military force that is trained for war on land. The mission of the U.S. Army is to preserve peace and defend the nation. The first U.S. army was the Continental Army that was organized for the American Revolution between 1775- 1783. Like all other military branches, the U.S. Army operates under the ultimate command of the President, with the next highest ranking official being General.

Wind is an important concpet in the belief system of many traditional cultures. Wind is considered the basis for a person’s temperament and behavior and the reason a person is animated and alive. Within this understanding of wind as an animating agent, there is also the notion of wind as a holy breeze, which, in Navajo, is also known as Little Wind or Wind's Child (Nilch'i biyázhi). The Little Wind, the force that gives people the ability to breathe and “stand erect," is initiated during conception, when a man lies with a woman and they share breath. At birth, with the infant's first breath, wind is given to the child again, and it is this wind that will guide the child’s life.

According to Navajo belief, Little Wind people are seen as benevolent deities and offer advice to people in danger. Wind puts himself in the folds of the ears, and whatever it speaks for advice is true. This ties the individual strongly to the natural world, with the notion that a person's thoughts and actions do not belong exclusively to the individual but also to the holy air.

Also known as an anvil cloud, a thunderhead is the towering head of a cumulus cloud that is moving in the direction of high winds aloft. A thunderhead usually signals the imminent potential of downbursts of heavy rain accompanied by violent winds.