The Ghostway (1984)

The Ghostway (1984)

winch

A winch is a machine used for pulling or hauling objects and can be mounted on the front of vehicles. A winch consists of four major parts: a hook, a long metal cable, the spool, and the crank. Once the hook is attached to the object, the crank is turned and the tension in the cable pulls or hauls the object closer to the winch.

Ye-i

The Navajo Ye-i, also often spelled yeii or yei, are something along the lines of spirit, god, demon, or monster. According to what is known of the Navajo origin story, these spiritual beings emerged from the lower worlds before the creation of the human race. At times they are referred to as Holy People. These Holy People are immortal beings that can take the form of animals, plants, landscape elements, or celestial bodies, but are viewed as supernatural beings and not deities. They are called holy because of their power and mystery and the fact that they live in the sacred realm.

Because the Navajo believe that the land, the immortal beings, and they themselves on earth are all connected, they strive to live life according to hozho, which translates roughly to harmony, balance, and beauty. The Ye-i can be called down to earth through ceremonies, rituals, and prayers and asked to help restore hozho when things fall out of balance. Ye-i are often drawn in sandpaintings during certain healing ceremonials, and depending on the ritual, Ye-i masks may be worn by participants to represent the supernatural beings. If the ceremony is performed in the correct way, and the Ye-i are pleased, then according to the belief they feel obliged to right the wrong that is disrupting the harmony or cure the sick patient.

piñon

The piñón or pinyon, is a type of pine tree that is native to the American Southwest and is common in the woodlands of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California. The pinyon pine is a relatively short tree that does not usually grow over 20-50 feet. It is characterized by its rounded form and branches that extend outward. The tree grows very slowly, reaching maturity around 100 years, and on average lives to be 350-450 years old. Pinyon pines produce edible pine nuts that have been a major food source for Native American peoples for centuries, and the tree's timber was used in early pueblo and cliff dwelling structures. The pinyon pine is known as the official state tree of New Mexico..

wagon track

A two-track path created by four-wheeled wagons drawn by draft animals such as oxen or horses. The wheels created two ruts, marking routes that other travelers could follow and that left traces over the landscape that could be read for centuries. Travelers in wagons would often follow routes already created by indigenous peoples, appropriating traditional travel ways that had been previously used for trade and pilgrimage.

Lukachukai Plateau, Arizona

A plateau located near Round Rock, Arizona along the western face of the Lukachukai Mountains. A plateau is a topographic feature that abruptly rises from the surrounding landscape on one or more sides. The tops of plateaus are flat, meaning that it would be an ideal place to graze sheep.

Ganado, Arizona

A settlement in Apache County, Arizona. The settlement is named after Ganado Mucho, the last head chief of the western division of the Navajo and the twelfth signer of the U.S.-Navajo Treaty of 1868, which guaranteed to the Navajo their right to return to and remain on their homeland after their forced Long Walk to and incarceration at Bosque Redondo in southeastern New Mexico in 1864.

Ganado is also home to the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, a long-time institution on the Navajo Nation reservation.

.38 caliber pistol

Sometimes known as a .38 special, this caliber of gun can be found with either a revolving or a semi-automatic firing mechanism. In addition, the bullets fired from this gun can be either center-fired or rimmed. Center-fire cartridges are primed and struck in the center of the cartridge base, whereas rim-fire cartridges are primed and struck on the protruding rim on the base of the cartridge. Due to its minimal recoil, which is the reactive movement of a gun after firing, and its accuracy, the .38 caliber is a popular gun.

Greasewood, Arizona

Greasewood is a small, predominantly Navajo community in northeastern Arizona. The community boasts the Lower Greasewood Chapter House, and the children in Greasewood are served by the schools of the nearby communities of Holbrook, Indian Wells, and Ganado. The name Greasewood likely refers to a bush, also known as creosote, which is known for its astringent odor, especially when wet or burning. For many desert dwellers, the scent of wet creosote bush is a scent associated with the summer monsoons, a welcome perfume that can almost overwhelm the senses on a humid afternoon.

New England, United States of America

The Atlantic Northeast region along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. It includes the states of Maine, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. The region was named by English explorer, Captain John Smith, in 1614 and was originally colonized by English Puritans. To this day, New England is known for its colonial revival and Georgian architectural styles, which closely evoke the designs that were popular in England during the time period in which British colonizers were developing infrastructure in North America.

beauty

In the context in which Tony Hillerman tends to use the word "beauty," it refers to the Navajo concept of 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. In Hillerman's work, chaos and imbalance manifest as as physical or mental illness, infections of the body and soul contracted from contact with mainstream U.S. culture.

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