Browse by Title: S

Sandia Crest, New Mexico

Sandia Crest is the highest peak in the Sandia Mountain Range with an elevation of 10,678 ft. The Sandia Mountains are located east of the city of Albuquerque, New…

Sandia Mountains, New Mexico

This mountain range runs north to south and is located east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The highest peak, Sandia Crest, is 10,678 feet in elevation. The range may have…

sandstone

Sedimentary rock consisting of sand or quartz grains consolidated and compacted together, typically reddish in color, although yellow and brown versions are also common…

Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado & New Mexico

One of the longest mountain ranges in the world. The range begins at Poncha Pass in Colorado and extends 204 miles south to Glorieta Pass near Santa Fe, New Mexico. The…

Santa Fe Municipal Airport, New Mexico

A small airport in Santa Fe that offers commercial flights. Most visitors to New Mexico prefer the Albuquerque International Sunport, which flies to many more locations…

Santa Fe Railroad

Chartered in 1863 as the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, this railway didn't make it to Santa Fe, NM until 1880 when it connected New Mexico in the east to the…

Santa Fe, New Mexico

The state capital of New Mexico, Santa Fe (meaning “holy Faith” in Spanish) is the oldest capital in the United States. At an elevation of over 7000 feet, it is also…

sap

The watery fluid that is transported through a plant’s structure through vascular tissue. This fluid can be a mixture of water, sugar, waste, food, salts, and other…

sapling

A young tree with a girth less than four inches in diameter at breast height (DBH).

sardonic

A humorous tone that is skeptical, disdainful, or intentionally mocking.

Saudi Arabia

A large country extending across the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East. The vast land of Saudi Arabia is arid and thinly populated. Both Mecca and Medina, the two…

saw-whet owl

Saw-whet owls (Aegolius acadicus) are small owls that are native to North America. They have small heart-shaped faces and cat-like eyes. This owl is found throughout…

Sayatasha

Sayatasha is the Rain God of the North. According to the Zuni myths, each year, the Sayatasha title is given to a person chosen by the eldest female of the ceremonial…

scabbard

A sheath or protective case that holds a weapon such as a gun, dagger, or sword.

scalp

The portion of epidermis, or skin, that covers the dome of the human head, from the hairline above the brows back to the nape of the neck. In many cultures,…

scalp carrier

The person chosen during the Enemyway ceremonial to collect and carry a symbolic enemy scalp to the place where it will be shot and ritually defeated. The object…

scalp shooter

A ceremonial participant in the Enemyway whose job is to shoot the ritual “scalp” of the enemy that is causing illness in a patient. The Enemyway is a Navajo ceremony…

scalp stick

A ceremonial stick used in the Navajo Enemyway ceremonial. On the first day of the Enemyway, the scalp stick is created at the patient’s home and at sunset of the stick…

scapegoat

A scapegoat is a person on whom blame is wrongly placed with the intention of misdirecting accountability and willfully causing harm.

scavenger

Animals or insects whose food source is exclusively or partially the carcasses of dead animals, garbage, or other food sources that have been overlooked by, or are…

scofflaws

An informal reference to persons who habitually ignore or violate the law, especially in regard to paying fines or debts.

scotch

A type of whiskey usually made in Scotland. Scotch whiskys (which are spelled without the "e") have a distinctive smokey flavor, a result of the distilling process,…

scrub cedar

A colloquial reference to the juniper component of pinyon-juniper woodlands, which range from New Mexico, across the Colorado Plateau and the Great Basin, and into the…

Seal of the Navajo Nation

In 1952 the Navajo Tribal Council officially adopted the Great Seal of the Navajo Tribe, which was designed by John Claw Jr., an Arizona Navajo artist. The fifty…

Season when the Thunder Sleeps

In traditional Navajo stories about Grandmother Spider, the figure who taught weaving to First Woman, the Season when the Thunder Sleeps refers to Winter and Spring…