The Boy Who Made Dragonfly (1972)

Although many indigenous groups in the U.S. Southwest are considered master jewelry makers and silversmiths, with unique designs and methods to their credit, silversmithing did not become a skilled trade in these communities until after European contact in the region occurred. The Navajo, for example, first obtained silver ornaments by trading with the Plains Indians, who had received it from German settlers, and also from the indigenous, Spanish, and later Mexican, further south. It was not until after the 1860s and the war on the Navajo, which culminated in the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo, that Navajo took up silversmithing as their own trade, extracting the silver from U.S. coins. They quickly incorporated turquoise, abundant in the southwest and already used for many purpose, into their work. For Navajo singers and medicine men, medicine bundles and pouches were often decorated with silver, along with fringe and turquoise.

In the context in which Tony Hillerman tends to use the word "harmony," it refers to the Navajo concept of hózhǫ́, the state in which all living things are ordered, in balance, and walking in beauty. The opposite of hózhǫ́ is hóchxǫ́ǫ́, which refers to disorder and chaos in one’s life. In Hillerman's work, chaos and imbalance manifest as as physical or mental illness, infections of the body and souls contracted from contact with mainstream U.S. culture.

The flat valley or other ground that is bounded on two sides by steep vertical walls. This almost creates a v-shaped gap in the landscape. Canyons are often formed by rivers and streams, which have cut through the rock of the earth and created a deep valley. A famous example of a canyon is the Grand Canyon in Arizona. This canyon was created by the Colorado River which, through preferential erosion, incised the canyon into the bedrock. Canyons are numerous in the southwestern United States due to the specific environment of the region and the erosion that has occurred there over millions of years.

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.

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..

A sorcerer, or sorceress, is a person who practices magic or witchcraft by connecting with spirits, ancestors, and the supernatural world. The term is usually used with certain dark connotations to indicate the use of magic not for healing purposes but for harmful ones. Unlike in the Navajo tradition, in which the term witchcraft is generally used in a positive way to refer to healing, blessing, and ensuring harmony, in some Pueblo traditions such as Zuni, Hopi, or Laguna, the word sorcery indicates the manipulation of supernatural powers with a negative intent. In addition, while Navajos inherit the supernatural and healing arts from elders or are chosen to learn them based on unique talents, in Pueblo culture one can independently choose to become a sorcerer and voluntarily learn and practice witchcraft, usually in secret.

Zuni is the name of both a people and a pueblo. The people's original name was A'shiwi, meaning "the flesh." The Zuni currently occupy Zuni Pueblo on the Zuni reservation in western New Mexico, a site that was formerly known as Halona, or "the Middle Place." Being one of the first pueblos contacted by Spanish explorers, the history between the Zuni and European colonists is long and fraught with violence, yet the Zuni have maintained many significant components of their way of life, including their language and their spiritual practices. The Zuni are known for their unique farming methods and skills, their silversmithing, and their traditional ceremonies, especially the winter solstice Shalako celebration.

In many traditional cultures, turquoise has been valued for its color, which evokes both the sky and water. Because of the significance of the sky, which facilitates the passage of the sun and the coming of rain, turquoise is often referred to as “the sky stone.” Turquoise is associated with life, health, fortune, and blessings. Turquoise can be found in medicine pouches, incorporated into Zuni fetishes, carved into beads, and set as larger stones in traditional Navajo and Pueblo silver work, although it wasn’t until the late 19th century that turquoise was associated with silver jewelry, when Atsidi Sani, a Navajo silversmith, began incorporating turquoise stones into the Spanish-style silversmithing he had learned as an apprentice. Silver and turquoise jewelry was popularized by the burgeoning tourist trade in the Southwest, and nearby Pueblo people, Hopi and Zuni, also began making turquoise jewelry.

A large bird of prey common throughout North America. In many Native American traditions, the eagle is a prominent mythological animal representing hunting or fighting power and skills, and associated with the sky spirits of rain, thunder, and lightning. Eagle dances are common among various tribes, and are performed as blessings for successful hunting, in preparation for war, or to honor peace agreements between tribes. In Navajo lore, the eagle has a central role in the Beadway and Eagleway healing ceremonials.

In the U.S., the bald eagle was adopted as the national bird and is featured on the Great Seal of the United States, as well as on the presidential flag and the seals of many federal agencies.

A social, cultural, and political category that refers to the "dominant" culture of the U.S., a category primarily understood as a racial construction that expresses the legacies of Western European hegemony. Many critiques of "whiteness" exist. General analysis suggests that whiteness has functioned since the early Enlightenment period in Europe (the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries) as an expression of increasingly dogmatic, or strict, white supremacist, patriarchal, heteronormative, and classed biases. Although since at least the 1960s critical racial and comparative ethnic frameworks, in addition to versions of feminist and queer theories, have challenged the privileges that have inhered in "whiteness," critical indigenous critiques comprise a burgeoning field of scholarship and activism that also challenge the colonial settler histories and contemporary practices associated with whiteness.