Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)

In Puebloan tradition, a kiva is both a sacred space to observe religious rituals as well as a society associated with a particular kiva. Kivas symbolize Puebloan emergence, or birth, into this world, and their architecture evokes an enclosed space of sacred potential. The training associated with healing rituals or with the social responsibilities of each kiva society occurs within the particualr kiva associated with thatspecific power or responsibility. Each kiva cares for and is identified by a mask associated with its guiding entity, a force or persona associated with weather, health, warfare, or collective well-being.

A personal item that holds sentimental significance and is cherished and kept for emotional reasons, regardless of its utility or monetary value.

A durable cotton material the color of sand.

These evergreen conifers feature leaves that are like scales rather than the needles associated with pine trees. Junipers are well-adapted to hot, arid environments such as the high desert plains and mountains of the U.S. Southwest due to their extensive root systems. Native Americans, such as the Navajo, have traditionally used juniper to treat a range of maladies, including diabetes. Native Americans have also used juniper berries as a female contraceptive.

Junipers tend to grow and migrate in conjunction with the ebb and flow of pinyon pine stand secession. An over-abundance of junipers encroaching into a stand of pinyon pine indicates long-term drought or other ecosystem disturbances, such as over-grazing. In the U.S., the pinyon-juniper woodland range spans from New Mexico to southeastern California. It extends through the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and higher elevations of the Mohave Desert.

Also known as a loupe, a jeweler's glass is a small, portable magnification device often containing a double lense.

Pants made from durable twilled cotton, also known as denim.

In Classical mythology, Jason and his Argonauts are sent by King Pelias to retrieve the Golden Fleece. If Jason successfully obtains the fleece, then he demonstrates his right to ascend to the throne as king. However, the fleece is an object of great power and is protected by a series of trials, incuding bulls who breath fire and a dragon whose teeth, when thrown into the soil, become deathless warriors.

Why would Hillerman name a fictional hippie commune "Jason's Fleece"? As the mythological fleece can symbolize power or wealth, or the desire for power and wealth, perhaps Hillerman is making a comment about the distorted values with which he associated the fictional commune in his 1973 novel Dance Hall of the Dead.

A mechanical device used to elevate the axle of vehicle so that one tire is raised off the ground, enabling one to access and change the tire. Most cars have a relatively small, manual jack stored in the same compartment as the spare tire. Professional mechanics often use a larger, hydraulic jack, and in commercial car garages there are often electric pallets that lift the whole car for complete access to all four wheels at the same time, as well as to the underside of the car's body.

A hogan is one of several traditional Navajo structures. Building hogans has ceremonial significance, and instructions for their construction have been passed down for generations, originating with the Holy People. In creation stories, the whole Navajo homeland is referred to as a hogan, and the walls that comprise the hogan's construction correspond with each of the cardinal directions and the four sacred mountains that mark the breadth of the Navajo homeland. As an extension of the Navajo belief system, the hogan's health and equilibrium need to be nourished and protected, similar to the people who live inside it. Although a hogan functions on a daily level as a ceremonial space for the observance of cumulatively significant small rituals, the hogan can also provide a space for larger healing practices such as ceremonial singing and associated sandpaintings.

Also spelled hand axe. In modern times, a hand ax is a short-handled metal tool with a sharp head used for chopping objects, such branches, trees, or even limbs of an enemy or animal. In prehistoric times, these tools were made of stone and are known by archaeologists as bifaces, as the stone head had been worked on both sides.