Browse by Title: K

Among the Native Pueblo peoples of the American Southwest, the term kachina (often also spelled "katsina”) generally refers to protective deities; either ancestors…

Kado is the term for the Kiowa Sun Dance, a ritual ceremony performed across the Great Plains by various tribes, including the Arapaho, Blackfoot, Comanche,Kiowa,…

The Kaibab Plateau is a plateau in northern Arizona located within the larger Colorado Plateau. The Kaibab Plateau is split between the Kaibab National Forest to the…

The name Kaibito Plateau comes from the Navajo word "K'ai'bii'Tó," which means "spring in the willows." The plateau lies between Page and Tuba City, Arizona. A request…

Kam Bimghi, also spelled Kah Bihgi, Valley is located in Apache County, Arizona. It is also known as Red Rock Valley and has sandstone buttes, spires, and arches that…

Kangaroo rats (Diposomys ordii) are a medium sized rodent with long tails and large back legs, which enable them to jump up to nine feet to escape predators. The…

Karl H. Schwerin was a professor of Ethnology and Department Chair emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico. He has researched the…

Kayenta, a small town in Navajo Country, AZ, sits at the intersection of US Highways 160 (formerly Navajo Route 1) and 163 on the Navajo Nation, about 25 miles south…

Keams Canyon is a small community of about 300 people in a census designated area within the Hopi Reservation in Navajo County, Arizona. The name designates both the…

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

Also known as Keet Siel, Kiet Siel, or in Navajo Kits'iil, the site's name means "shattered or broken house." This was the first of three archaeological sites…

Referring to Keres, a dialect cluster spoken by several groups of Pueblo people within what is now New Mexico. The dialect is divided into primary two groups, the…

Spelled "Kerrmac" in Hillerman's 1980 novel THE PEOPLE OF DARKNESS, the Kermac Nuclear Fuels Corporation, was one of several national mining companies that invested in…

A flammable liquid that is used to fuel stoves, furnaces, and lamps. It can also be burned as a commercial jet fuel. Also called paraffin oil, kerosene is a mix of…

A durable cotton material the color of sand.

In humans, the kidney is located near the spinal column, just above the hip bones. As part of the excretory system, kidneys filter toxins from the blood. These waste…

This is the name the menstruation, puberty, or maturity ceremony that celebrates a Navajo girl's entrance into womanhood. There are different accounts of the processes…

The term for biological relatives, including both men and women.

One of the largest ranches in the world, this cattle ranch is located in South Texas and was founded in 1853 by Richard King. It is 825,000 acres and was named a…

Most cultures have some form of kinship system, and depending on the culture, who is included and how the system is set up can vary. In many contemporary Western…

A Great Plains tribe whose original homeland was in the area now known as western Montana, but who migrated south along the Rocky Mountains through the 1600s and…

Christopher "Kit" Carson was one of the most famous Western explorers during the 1800s. In the 1840s, he traveled as a guide with John C. Fremont through the Great…

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…

A small town in Apache County, Arizona, located in northeast Arizona along U.S. Route 191. The Navajo name for this place is Łeeyi’tó, meaning "water in the ground."…

Klethla Valley is located in the Four Corners region of Arizona on the Navajo Nation between Black Mesa to the south, and Shonto Plateau to the north. This 10-mile long…