The Blessing Way (1970)

A tragedy in five parts written by William Shakespeare between 1603-1604. The full name of the play is OTHELLO, THE MOOR OF VENICE. It was first published in 1622, almost ten years after Shakespeare completed it. The play revolves around a black general tormented by racial insecurities who eventually murders his white wife, Desdemona, in a fit of jealous rage and then commits suicide. It is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays.

The Oscura Mountains are a landform located in the northern portion of White Sands Missile Base in Lincoln County, New Mexico, just north of the San Andres Mountains and east of Tularosa Valley. In Spanish, Oscura means “dark,” and this name references the dark volcanic formations and vegetation on the mountains. Within the range is North Oscura Peak, the location of the Air Force Research laboratory, which is associated with White Sands Missile Range.

The Oscura Foothills are the low-rise hills located along the base of the Oscura Mountains, a range in Lincoln County, New Mexico.

A general reference to a people's ancestors, who are typically understood to be a repository of wisdom and experience, upon which the younger generations can, and should, draw, whether through meditation, sometimes prayer, and by learning traditional ways.

At 11,306 feet, Mount Taylor is the highest peak in the San Mateo range, located about 15 miles northeast of Grants, New Mexico. In the winter its snow-capped peak is especially noticeable. During the Spanish rule of the region, the mountain was called Cebolleta (little onion). In 1849, after the U.S.-Mexico War, it was renamed after President Zachary Taylor. For the indigenous peoples of the area, Mount Taylor is a revered and spiritually significant location. In Navajo it is known as Tsoodzil (Turquoise Mountain) and is one of the four sacred mountains that mark the Navajo homeland.

According to Hillerman's version of Navajo mythology, First Man buried turquoise in this range, hence its symbolic blue color. Under Hillerman's interpretation, the chief of the Enemy Gods, Yé'iitsoh, once resided in this peak. When the Twin War Gods (Born for Water and Monster Slayer, sons of Changing Woman) killed Yé'iitsoh, his blood spilled down the slopes and hardened into the lava flows of El Malpais in the area surrounding Grants. The mountain features as a central and meaningful location for Blessingway and Enemyway ceremonies.

One of the largest islands off the coast of Japan, Okinawa is an island, a prefecture, and a city. The island was annexed by Japan in 1879 under the Meiji Government, and is currently one of Japan's most popular beach and surf destinations, laying is it does between the Pacific Ocean to the west and the the East China Sea to the east. Okinawa was also the location for one of the bloodiest battles in World War II, one that lasted 82 days and resulted in the deaths of 95,000 members of the Imperial Japanese Army and 12,510 American soldiers. During this battle a majority of the communications were handled by the Navajo Code talkers, a group of Navajo men recruited to use their language as a code during the war.

In Western folklore, an ogre is a mythical giant beast that eats humans and is often the evil villain in folktales or children’s stories. These creatures are often used to describe tyrants or dictators who behave monstrously and act with brutality and cruelty.

Also known as the Night Chant, the Night Way is one of the most commonly performed ceremonials in the Navajo tradition. The Night Way (Yébîchai in Navajo) is a healing ceremony that lasts for nine days and nights and is performed only in the winter months. Specifically, the Night Way is meant to restore balance, health, and equilibrium for those suffering from paralysis, blindness, and deafness, although it can also be performed to restore social and natural order between the supplicant and the natural environment. In essence, the Night Chant, as with most Navajo healing ceremonials, endeavors to to ameliorate strained relations between Man and the Universe, thereby restoring order, balance, harmony, and health.

The ritual, perhaps the most complex in the Navajo repertoire of healing chants, includes praying, sacred dancing, pollen blessing, and sandpainting. The singer, or spiritual leader of the ceremony, must recite specific healing chants that are intended to provoke a meditative trance or to create the aural context for the ceremonial. Such chants are often comprised of repeated phrases and can be thought of as sung prayers.

The common nighthawk, also called a bullbat, is a small nocturnal bird that is not related to the hawk, although the two do share some coloring patterns. The nighthawk lives in woodlands, fields, and clearings across the continental United States, and feeds primarily on flying insects that it hunts at night. Nighthawks generally are solitary creatures, but occasionally, for foraging purposes, form flocks. The Southwestern nighthawks are recognizable by their dark gray markings and wings that have a white stripe that runs between the tip and the shoulder.

A reference to a long heroic journey with many tasks and adventures that often changes the fortune of the traveler. A reference to the epic poem, The Odyssey, written by the Greek author Homer. This poem retells the travels and adventures of Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, as he returns home from fighting in the Trojan War.