One of the most abundant rock types underlying the Earth's surface, especially the upper oceanic crust, basalt is a dark-colored igneous rock. It can be fine-grained and compact, although as it usually reaches the earth's surface via volcanic activity and lava flows, hardening into rough, crystallized, pumiceous formations. Many areas within the U.S. Southwest are scattered with extinct volcanoes, and basalt is therefore abundant throughout the region.
Vandalism takes many forms, from graffitti, to broken windows, to theft, but it is typically an anonymous act of property violence.
An organism that forms as a thin layer of fungal and algal substance on soil, rocks, and trees. A lichen is a symbiotic life form in which algae lives inside the filaments of a fungus, and the two grow and reproduce in a mutually beneficial existence. Lichens can be found in every part of the world, but are especially abundant in dry climates such as semi-arid zones and arctic tundra. There is a large number of classified lichens that grow in a variety of shapes and colors.
A tall, water-loving shrub indigenous to Asia and the Mediterranean, tamarisk, also known colloquially as salt cedar, was introduced to U.S. Southwest waterways to assist in stabilization and erosion control at the turn of the twentieth century. As a non-native species with no biological controls naturally present to inhibit its proliferation, tamarisk quickly became an invasive species, overtaking waterways, choking out native plant species and consuming the water it was supposed to help conserve. Because tamarisk is now considered an ecological threat to the already fragile hydrological systems of the southwestern deserts of the U.S., municipal, state, regional, and federal task forces invest time and money on teams of "tammywhackers," who work to manually remove tamarisk from the riverbanks to which they were introduced in the late 19th century.
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.
A prolonged period of atypical dry weather conditions with little or no rain that finds fuel moistures, water tables, aquifers, and surface waterways low to dry. Droughts can severely affect agriculture as well as natural ecosystems. In much of the arid areas of the U.S. Southwest, drought is a regular and common concern.
A word commonly meant to refer to either the photocopy of a document page or the act of making a photocopy. Xerox itself is a trademarked name of a brand of copying machines that became ubiquitous in office environments in the 1960s. Before it was a trademark, however, xerox was a neologism meant to refer to a new way of reproducing images using electrically charged colored particles: xerography. In Greek, "xero" means dry and "graphy" means writing.
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.
The most common substance used in the U.S. for paving roads. Asphalt concrete (also called tarmac) is produced by laying heated refined crude oils over a layer of aggregate materials such as sand and gravel. The mixture is then rolled and pressed onto the road to create a solid, durable surface layer.
The dissection of a corpse (dead human body) in order to determine the cause of death. Also known as a postmortem examination or necropsy. This method is used by a medical examiner or coroner when the cause of death is unknown or when death seems to have occurred under suspicious circumstances.