Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)

Because of its prevalence throughout the Southwest, Hillerman is probably referring to the mule deer, named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. There are several additional subspecies of deer, including the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related white-tailed deer, mule deer are generally more associated with the land west of the Missouri River, and more specifically still with the Rocky Mountain region of North America.

Pieces of stone removed from a larger core that aren't usable or identifiable as having an intentionally crafted blade edge. Debris is obviously associated with the creation of stone tools, but it is also assoicated with materials left over after the work has been done.

In many Native American cultures, dancing is a common part of spiritual, communal ceremonies. Dancing can be a form of supplication to spirits or deities, for purposes that includes seasonal festivities, celebratory events, healing rituals, or the blessing of certain feats such as important battles or hunting trips. While dance is a common practice among various Native American groups, the form these dances take changes between cultures, as do traditions regarding who is permitted to perform them.

Among the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest, some of the most common dances are the masked kachina dances. Kachinas are guardian spirits, often associated with dead ancestors, who are believed to reside in a separate but parallel realm. According to traditional lore, kachinas return to the pueblo villages during special ceremonies. Ritual dances, in which the dancers don sacred kachina masks and embody the kachina spirit, are performed in order to invite and please the spirits. The dances often involve offerings and reverence for which the kachinas, in return, would guarantee protection and sustenance for the community, especially through bringing the rains needed for raising crops. In Puebloan cultures, both men and women can participate in ceremonial dances, although women are often excluded from surrounding spiritual practices, such as kiva societies' gatherings. Little boys who are initiated into kiva societies are often taught the dances before they have a chance to even learn the prayers.

The back, open portion of a pickup truck, used for transporting cargo.

In his Navajo detective novels, Tony Hillerman refers to both the regular dog-like wild animal found throughout the contiguous American continents and to Coyote, the trickster figure in Navajo cosmologies, for which the animal and its anthropomorphized character is the inspiration.

In Navajo mythology, Coyote (or First Coyote) is a trickster or troublemaker. He is often referred to as First Angry or First Scolder and is said to have brought witchcraft into the world. He appears in many stories both as a trickster who cannot be trusted and as a sexual being who tricks others in order to get his way. He is a main character of the Navajo creation story.

A forgery of an object; a fake intended to be perceived as authentic. To counterfeit something is to operate with the intention to deceive.

In the Zuni tradition, the Council of the Gods consists of a dynamic grouping of significant deities, each representing a powerful natural phenomenon or a cardinal direction and the characteristics associated with that direction. During the winter ceremony of Shalako, it is believed that the Council enters the Zuni pueblo to visit and to celebrate the turn of the year with the people. During this ceremony, only five members of the Council actually participate, personified by men who train carefully for the event. The Gods who pass through the pueblo are Saiyatasha, or Longhorn, Rain God of the North, Hu-tu-tu, deputy to Saiyatasha and Rain God of the South, two Yamuhakto (wood gatherers), one from the East, and the other from the West, and lastly the Fire God, a deputy to the Sun Father, usually personified by a young boy. These figures are the primary Council members and lead the dancing processional through the pueblo, but they are also accompanied by two Salamobia warrior figures and a group of Mudhead dancers, or Koyemsi, who work together to oversee the procedures and maintain order during the ceremony.

Also known as Dowa Yalanne in the Zuni language, Corn Mountain is the mesa located southeast of the current Zuni pueblo in central New Mexico. The mesa has historical as well as spiritual significance for the Zuni. In the early sixteenth century, the Zuni took refuge from Spanish conquistadors atop the mesa. Later, during the period of the Pueblo Revolt at the end of the seventeenth century, the Zuni again retreated to the mesa top. In addition, the mesa is the site of several living shrines and cultural routes, and it retains astrological significance from which the Zuni ceremonial calendar is derived.

The bone immediately below the eye socket that sometimes forms a prominent swell. Cheek bones are also known as the zygomatic bone and together with the brow ridge work to protect the eyes in their sockets.

The opposite of harmony, balance, equilibrium, and the Navajo Way, or hózhǫ́. Hózhǫ́ is the state in which all living things are ordered and in balance, walking in beauty. This term encompasses the Navajo world view, one in which all become peaceful and harmonious. The opposite of hózhǫ́ is hóchxǫ́ǫ́, which refers to a disorder and chaos in one’s life. In Hillerman's work, chaos and imbalance manifest as an illness or sickness, an infection obtained from contact with modern, predominantly White culture of the manistream U.S..