The Dark Wind (1982)

A snack bar or small general store at a military base or prison. At a prison, inmates who are not allowed to use cash have canteen accounts from which they can buy small items such as cigarettes, snacks, hygiene products, etc.

A large culturally and racially diverse city located in southern California. Los Angeles is the second most populated city in the U.S., after New York City. The name Los Angeles means “the angels” in Spanish and is hence known as the “City of Angels.” Prior to the 20th century, Los Angeles was not the center of movie-making, leisure, or cultural capitalism that we think of today. The city began as a small village that, in order to distribute the water supply from the Los Angeles and Owens Rivers, consolidated a number of neighboring communities to create one large city. It is for this reason that there are a number of distinct city districts within Los Angeles including: Hollywood, San Pedro, Chinatown, Watts, Boyle Heights, Encino, and Little Tokyo. Before the mid-20th century, agriculture thrived within the city as there were many farms, orchards, and greenhouses. When the film industry moved from the East Coast to California, largely due to the availability of natural light and cheap property values, Los Angeles became a cultural and economic hub of the West Coast. Theater, music, and visual art have proliferated since the 1960s, creating an urban renaissance that corresponded with the physical growth of the city. Its warm climate, beaches, and mountains also make it a popular world-wide tourist destination. The city is also known for its major freeways, traffic, and car culture.

This sprawling city is home to many ethnicities, career options, and socioeconomic classes. There are also a number of Navajo peoples living in Los Angeles as a direct effect of the Indian Relocation Act of 1956. This act encouraged Native Americans to leave their reservations and settle down in large cities by offering vocational training, moving expenses, and some economic help when they first arrived in the cities. The act relocated approximately 750,000 Native Americans into major cities, such as L.A., where they often faced cultural isolation, poverty, discrimination, and other adverse effects.

A city located in the far southwestern corner of Texas, on the banks of the Rio Grande, and just across the border from the city of Juárez, Mexico. In Spanish, the name El Paso means "the passage," and indicates the strategic location of the town in Spanish colonial times along the Camino Real Por Tierra Adentro, Spain's "royal road" that traveled north from Mexico City to the Spanish colony's northern frontier. Although a mission was built in the area in 1659 and small settlements were scattered around it throughout the 1700s, it wasn't until 1827 that a permanent village was established in what today is the city of El Paso. The town grew slowly until the arrival of the railway in 1881, after which El Paso saw a significant population increase and a growth in trade, commerce, ranching, agriculture, and mining production.

Today El Paso is an important crossroad for foreign trade, transnational labor, and pan-American transportation. Its history as a Spanish colonial town and its proximity to Mexico make it a bilingual city with strong cross-border influences on its economy, demographics, and culture.

A large evergreen tree, native to New Mexico and other mountainous areas of the Southwest, common at elevations between 7,000-12,000 feet. Spruce tends to grow in dense stands but can also be found in more open mixed stands along with other evergreens such as ponderosa pines and firs. The lumber of spruce has been used for building materials, railroad ties, mine timbers, and poles. Spruce also has cultural significance for the indigenous peoples of the Southwest and is utilized in various Pueblo ceremonial customs, architecture, and ritual enactments.

A community located a mile west of the mouth of Canyon de Chelly on the Navajo reservation in northeastern Arizona. In Navajo, the place is known as Ch’ínílį or “Water Outlet." A site of great spiritual significance, Canyon de Chelly is considered the heart of the Navajo people and was the site of their final resistance against demands from the U.S. government to relocate during the 19th century. Eventually succumbing to the privations and difficulties of what today would be understood as guerrilla warfare, it was at Chinle that the Navajo people finally surrendered to Kit Carson in 1864. After the forced march to and detainment at Bosque Redondo in southeastern New Mexico, the Navajo were permitted to return to their homelands, including Canyon de Chelly. Because of the fertile agricultural fields and prime grazing lands in Chinle Valley, Chinle became the hub of a trading network, and a trading post was established there in the 1880s. Chinle remains a vital cultural and economic center for the Navajo, as well as a popular tourist spot for visitors.

In Navajo, Diné means "the People." Eminently adaptable, the Diné learn from their neighbors and have incorporated elements from Pueblo, Hispanic, and even Anglo cultures into their lifeways, developing a traditional way of life that is fluid and dynamic but also deeply affected by their respect for custom and tradition. This is intimately tied to their belief that the physical and spiritual worlds blend together and that everything on earth is alive and related. This is called 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.

A pipe or a cement structure designed to let water flow under a road. Such structures can be either embedded in the ground under the road, or protrude up, forming a raised ramp in the road. Some culverts are so large that one can walk or even drive a vehicle through them when they are empty.

In Navajo and Pueblo traditions, as well as many other Native American cultures, the underworld is thought of as the watery, dark realm of creation from which people emerged into the present world. The underworld represents the various levels of existence through which people journey before finally rising onto the surface of the Earth to exist in the world as we know it now. While the underworld is believed to be the place of human origin, it also represents the realm of spirits, gods, or the Holy People, and it is where the dead reside after passing away from this world..

Also spelled Hastiin, Hosteen is a term of respectful address in Navajo meaning man or husband. In Navajo, "First Man," from the Navajo Origin Story, is called Áłtsé Hastiin. Often, Hosteen is used before a last name, functioning in a way that is similar to the usage of Mister (Mr.) in English.

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.