The Blessing Way (1970)

Black God, known as Haashchʼééshzhiní in Navajo, is the god of fire and creator of the stars according to Navajo tradition. In his Navajo mystery series, Tony Hillerman often refers to Black God as Darkness to Be One. Not all accounts credit Black God with the creation of the constellations, but most credit him with the creation of fire and light as found in the stars. He has a crescent moon on his forehead, a full moon for a mouth, the constellation Pleiades on his temple, and he wears a buckskin mask covered in sacred charcoal with white paint. It is said that whenever Black God stomps his foot, the Flint Boys would up on him, eventually remaining on his forehead and representing the Pleiades.

A word used by Hillerman to refer to the work of people known in some Native American traditions as witches. In the Navajo tradition, about which Hillerman wrote most often, Navajo witches are also known as Navajo wolves or skinwalkers. In general, it is believed that witches cause physical infections that stem from spiritual imbalances associated with death. Because witches are connected with death (to become a witch in the Navajo tradition, one must murder a family member), all dealings with witches are always already tainted with death and uncleanliness. If one becomes infected with illness because of contact with a witch, or because one is the target of a witch's hex, healing ceremonials need to take place to cure the sickness and help the invalid regain balance, also known as hózhǫ́ . Hillerman used the same term of witchcraft to refer to other evil goings on and unproper behavior for other tribes, like the Hopi.

Also known as Talking God to Be One, Soft Talker, or Dawn Bearer (hastseyalti, yeibeichai), Talking God is a main Navajo deity. One of the four Holy People who live in the mountains, Talking God is associated with the color white, acts as a mentor, guides human life, helps Changing Woman give birth to and prepare the Monster Slayer Twins for their fateful battles, and can travel on rainbows. He plays a very large role in the Navajo creation story, helping create First Man and First Woman among other things .

Talking God is also known for his compassion, being one of the few deities in the Navajo cosmology who is a constant advocate on behalf of The People, which is how the Navajo, or Diné, refer to themselves.

A winch is a machine used for pulling or hauling objects and can be mounted on the front of vehicles. A winch consists of four major parts: a hook, a long metal cable, the spool, and the crank. Once the hook is attached to the object, the crank is turned and the tension in the cable pulls or hauls the object closer to the winch.

A wide-brimmed and high-crowned hat generally made of felt that was originally made by John B. Stetson Company, founded in 1865. Known as “Boss of the Plains,” this hat is often worn by men and women working in relatively extreme weather conditions, such as the high plains, intermountain west, and the southern deserts. The high crown allows air to flow over the top of the head better than other hats, while still providing scalp and facial protection from the sun. Although the company, now known simply as "Stetson," manufactures other products including apparel, perfume, and bourbon, the Stetson hat became and remained crucial to the business as the most popular object produced by the company, earning an iconic association with the American West.

In some indigenous traditions, it is taboo to kill certain animals, such as bears, coyotes, wolves, and cougars, and their pelts are forbidden from being used. Therefore, for an individual to make use of or to wear a wolf skin can be considered a radical if not offensive practice.

In some versions of Navajo tradition, for example, skinwalkers are said to wear an animal skin in order to obtain the attributes, power, and nature of the animal from which the skin was taken. In other versions of this mythology, skinwalkers are described as mutated versions of the animal whose skin they're wearing.

Because of these beliefs, sometimes it is said that the Navajo call the wolf "mai-coh," meaning witch. Here, the suspicion toward wolves derives not from the nature of the wolf, but rather from human nature. Both the Navajo and the Hopi believed that human witches use or possibly abuse the wolf's powers to hurt other people. While Europeans warn of a wolf in sheep's clothing, some traditional indigenous beliefs caution against a human in wolf's clothing.

The Navajo Ye-i, also often spelled yeii or yei, are something along the lines of spirit, god, demon, or monster. According to what is known of the Navajo origin story, these spiritual beings emerged from the lower worlds before the creation of the human race. At times they are referred to as Holy People. These Holy People are immortal beings that can take the form of animals, plants, landscape elements, or celestial bodies, but are viewed as supernatural beings and not deities. They are called holy because of their power and mystery and the fact that they live in the sacred realm.

Because the Navajo believe that the land, the immortal beings, and they themselves on earth are all connected, they strive to live life according to hozho, which translates roughly to harmony, balance, and beauty. The Ye-i can be called down to earth through ceremonies, rituals, and prayers and asked to help restore hozho when things fall out of balance. Ye-i are often drawn in sandpaintings during certain healing ceremonials, and depending on the ritual, Ye-i masks may be worn by participants to represent the supernatural beings. If the ceremony is performed in the correct way, and the Ye-i are pleased, then according to the belief they feel obliged to right the wrong that is disrupting the harmony or cure the sick patient.

According to what is known of Navajo mythology, Father Sky and Mother Earth are considered to be the parents of everything. Father Sky is sacred, as are his offerings: air, wind, thunder, lightning, and rain. Mother Earth is equally revered, as is everything that she offers: mountains, vegetation, animals, and water.

Father Sky and Mother Earth appear in many of the sandpaintings associated with Navajo healing ceremonies. They are invoked in these paintings not because of their part in a particular story but because of their strength and overall importance. In the body of Mother Earth are the four sacred plants—corn, bean, squash and tobacco. In the body of Father Sky are the constellations, including the Milky Way, represented by the intertwined zigzag lines of dots, and the sun and the moon, represented by the circles with "horns."

The piñón or pinyon, is a type of pine tree that is native to the American Southwest and is common in the woodlands of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California. The pinyon pine is a relatively short tree that does not usually grow over 20-50 feet. It is characterized by its rounded form and branches that extend outward. The tree grows very slowly, reaching maturity around 100 years, and on average lives to be 350-450 years old. Pinyon pines produce edible pine nuts that have been a major food source for Native American peoples for centuries, and the tree's timber was used in early pueblo and cliff dwelling structures. The pinyon pine is known as the official state tree of New Mexico..

The ancestor of modern dogs, a wolf is a carnivorous mammal that walks on all fours and hunts in groups known as packs. There are three species of wolves: Canis lupus (gray/timber wolf), Canis rufus (red wolf), and Canis simensis (Abyssinian wolf). Wolves are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere and are members of the family Canid.

In the Southwest there used to be a subspecies of the gray wolf, the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi). They were hunted out of existence in the wild in the 1970s, and the only surviving wolves were in zoos. In 1998, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service introduced eleven Mexican gray wolves back into the wild and now the subspecies is slowly growing in number.