The Dark Wind (1982)

Also known as a mobile home, house trailer, or trailer home, this kind of trailer is a portable pre-manufactured living structure. Some trailers are smaller, have wheels, and can be easily moved by being hooked to a strong vehicle (usually a large pickup truck). Others are larger and require the service of a commercial towing truck for transportation. Larger trailers are normally not moved often, and are used as permanent residences often in designated mobile home parks. They present a relatively affordable alternative to buying a home but can carry a stigma of impermanence and poverty.

An idiomatic phrase, equivalent to the phrase "as the crow flies," which refers to the shortest distance between two places, a linear transect that avoids meandering turns and inconvenient detours often associated with following roads.

The "mile-high" capital and largest city in Colorado, Denver is located at the western end of the Great Plains, just east of the Rocky Mountains. Arapaho peoples inhabited the area until 1858, when the gold rush brought white settlers to the junction of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River, where the site of the future city was established. Denver was named after James W. Denver, the Kansas territorial governor at the time. In the 1860s, uprisings by Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes provoked the forced removal of Native Americans from the state of Colorado. The city's settler population grew steadily after the arrival of the railroad in the 1880s, with gold and silver mining, as well as farming and ranching, sustaining its economy.

Denver saw a few economic booms in the second half of the 20th century, with the development of the Cold War military industry in the 1950s, oil production in the 1970s, and tourism in the 1990s. Today, the city is a hub of high-tech industry and commerce. Its scenery, proximity to mountain parks and ski resorts, and relatively mild climate attract many tourists and outdoors enthusiasts.

Although there are many variations of the creation myth among the indigenous peoples of the Southwest, basic elements of the story are repeated and point to similar historical, spiritual, and ethical concepts. The Navajo origin story, for example, tells of the emergence of the mythological ancestors, the Insect People, from the First World, which was a dark and chaotic underworld. From that first world, the people journeyed through four more realms until they reached their mature existence on Earth as we know it now, which, depending on the version, is known as either the Fourth or the Fifth World. The tales of transitioning through the realms illustrate spiritual and moral development, which, according to the stories, is a search for order and peace that is usually triggered by conflict and misconduct. Above this present existence there is believed to be a Sixth world of perfect harmony.

Whether the current world is numbered the Fourth or the Fifth, in several indigenous traditions, the previous world is remembered as one without color,only black and white. In this last transitional realm before reaching the surface world, First Man and First Woman came into being, and the Insect People, with the help of the gods and the Kisani (Pueblo people) assumed their final human form and were taught how to farm, hunt, speak, and perform ceremonies. They lived in peace for a long time, but then quarrels arose and induced conflicts, hardships, and an eventual flood that destroyed life in the Fourth World and carried the People into the Fifth World. In the Fifth World, the present surface reality, the Dinehtah (the Navajo homeland) was created. The four sacred mountains were established (Mount Blanca in the east, Mount Taylor in the south, the San Francisco Peaks in the west, and Mount Hesperus in the north), and rain was made. Finally, light and color entered the world with the creation of the sun, the moon, and the stars.

In the Hopi tradition, the fourth world is representative of the world the Hopi live in today. Each of the previous worlds are below one another, going deeper into the ground. When the people emerged, they were given permission and guided by the deity Masaw, who had previously been the guardian of the underworld. Taiowa, the Creator, gave Masaw the chance to guard the fourth world after he had lost privileges of guarding the third. Masaw guided the people to their home in Oraibi on Third Mesa and gave them the gift of fire.

Natural vegetation consisting of small bushes, other small diameter wood plants, and bunch grasses. Brush can consist as its own vegetation type, but it often presents as a transitional zone between open grasslands and enclosed arboreal canopies. Brush habitats can be found in various arid climates and deserts, and are common in the Southwestern parts of the U.S.

Cottonwoods are tall deciduous trees of the genus Populus that are native to North America and Western Asia. These trees can reach up to 148 feet in height and can be identified by their triangular to diamond shaped leaves and deeply fissured bark. Their common name, cottonwood, is due to their cottony seeds. In the Southwest these trees are commonly found in the wetter areas near rivers, for example in the bosque riparian area along the Rio Grande, which runs from southern Colorado through New Mexico until it becomes the natural border between the states of Texas in the U.S. and Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas in Mexico.

Typically a kind of backpack, knapsack, or rucksack made from canvas, a durable natural-fiber fabric, and large enough to carry a significant amount gear, supplies, or equipment. Many of these old packs are actually military rucksacks, or designed to emulate them, because of their cubic interior capacity and the simplicity of their design.

A strong, thick, durable cloth made of natural fibers such as hemp, flax, cotton, or jute. The name probably came from cannabis, the Latin term for hemp. Canvas cloth has been used for centuries to make sails, tents, and large carrying bags. A lighter variety, known as artists' canvas, is used for oil paintings.

New Mexico has a long and storied history due to the rich presence of living indigenous traditions that stretch back before European contact; its history of settler colonialism, specifically Spanish, French, and Anglo; and its itinerant border with Mexico. In 1680, the cultural and religious differences between the tribes and the Spanish settlers resulted in the Great Pueblo Revolt of 1680, in which the usually peaceful Native Americans banded together and succeeded in pushing all the Spaniards out of their land. A decade later, the Spanish settlers regained control of the Pueblo peoples and their territory. The territory changed hands several times over the next three centuries as more people of Anglo-European descent moved out west to New Mexico due to the opening of the Santa Fe Trail and later the railroad. To this day, the white inhabitants of the area incorporate various Native and Hispanic and Mexican traditions and cultural elements into their every day lives and special customs, from architectural styles, seasonal and spiritual holidays, and cuisine.

A small community on the Navajo Nation Reservation in central New Mexico, located about 30 miles northeast of Thoreau (pronounced "through"). In Navajo, the place is called Tʼiistsʼóóz Ńdeeshgizh, meaning "Slender Cottonwood Gap." The town was founded in 1909 as a government settlement around the Pueblo Bonito Indian School. In 1935, the Navajo Central Agency at Window Rock assumed jurisdiction over the community and in the late 1950s it became known as the Crownpoint Agency. The Navajo Institute of Technology, an Indian health service medical center, a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school, a Navajo police substation, and the monthly Navajo weavers’ rug auction are all located in the town.