Browse by Title: S

sabertooth cat

A large, bear-sized mammal that lived through the end of the Pleistocene epoch, meaning that it went extinct about ten thousand years ago. Although they resemble cats,…

Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

A small city founded in 1693 and located in the state of Nuevo Leon, in northeastern Mexico, near the border between Mexico and Texas. The city was founded around a…

Sabito Wash, Arizona

Sabito Wash is a 20-mile-long tributary of Leroux wash located within the Painted Desert in northeastern Arizona. This wash is on the northern boundary of Petrified…

Sacred Lake

A shallow saline lake located about 50 miles south of Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico. The Zuni understand the lake to be their sacred mother, Ma’l Oyattsik’I or "Salt Woman…

Sacred Mountain of Blue Flint Woman, Arizona

In Navajo cosmology, there are four sacred mountains that bound the Navajo homeland, each being associated with a specific color and deity. Blue Flint Woman is one of…

saddle

A seat made of leather that is placed on the backs of horses, ponies, camels, and other four-legged creatures ridden by humans. Although it is possible to ride most of…

saddle ridge

A geographic term that refers to the outline of a mountain in which a gentle concave depression lies between two peaks. As the name suggests, the shape would then…

safety

Sometimes referred to as the "safety button" or "catch," on a firearm the safety, when engaged, prevents the firearm from accidentally firing. In order to discharge a…

Safeway

A leading U.S. supermarket chain with stores all over the U.S. as well as in a few countries abroad. The company started with a small grocery store in American Falls,…

sagebrush

Sagebrush, often shortened to "sage," is the name of a group of plants that are commonly referred to as sagebrushes or sageworts. These are plants in the genus…

Saigon, Vietnam

Vietnam is a country located in Southeast Asia and is bordered by China, Laos, and Cambodia. From 1859-1954 the country was colonized by the French government, and…

Salamobia

Ritual and spiritual warrior kachina figures who play an important role in the Zuni winter solstice ceremonial of Shalako. There is one Salamobia for each of the six…

Salem, Massachusetts

A city in northeastern Massachusetts famous for its brutal and bloody witch trials in the 1692, where religious leaders of the town convicted 19 women of witchcraft and…

Salmonella

A group of anaerobic bacteria that is potentially pathogenic, or disease-causing, for humans and other warm-blooded animals. Certain types of Salmonella may develop in…

salt brush

Salt brush, more commonly called saltbush, is most likely a reference to a common western plant also known as the four wing saltbush or chamiza. Although it is a native…

Salt Cedar Clan

A Navajo clan mentioned in several of Tony Hillerman's Navajo detective novels, with land near the fictional No Agua Wash, which may be imagined to be somewhere in the…

Salt Diné

The Navajo (Diné) tribe is comprised of more than forty family lineages--or clans--that claim common ancestry. According to traditional lore, the Áshįįhi, or Salt…

Salt Water Clan

The Salt Water Clan, Tódík’ǫ́zhí in Navajo, is a Navajo clan mentioned in several of Tony Hillerman's Navajo detective novels, with land imagined to be somewhere…

San Diego, California

The second largest city in California after Los Angeles, San Diego is located at the southernmost tip of the state, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean and adjacent to…

San Francisco Peaks, Arizona

The San Francisco Peaks are a volcanic mountain range located in just North of Flagstaff, Arizona. This mountain range was once a cluster of volcanoes, and it has the…

San Francisco, California

San Francisco is the main commercial and cultural center of Northern California. The city was founded in 1776 by Spanish colonizers and grew fairly slowly until the…

San Jose, California

The third largest city in California (after Los Angeles and San Diego), San Jose is located about 50 miles southeast of San Francisco. Its inland location and semi-arid…

San Mateo, New Mexico

A small village located in central New Mexico, just northeast of Grants, about 100 miles west of Albuquerque. Prior to becoming known as the "Uranium Capital of the…

Sand Creek Massacre

An unprovoked attack on on peaceful southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians that occurred in 1864 as led by Col. Chivington who had gotten orders not to make peace with…

sand painting

Also known as sandpaintings or dry paintings, sand paintings (or iikááh in Navajo) are created by a medicine man (or Hataałii in Navajo) for ceremonial purposes. Sand…