The Ghostway (1984)

In military or paramilitary organizations, such as police departments, a hierarchical organization of personnel exists, often called the chain of command.

The general rankings within a police force, depending on its size, is as follows, in order from highest to lowest rankings:

• Chief
• Deputy/Assistant Chief
• Commander
• Inspector
• Captain
• Lieutenant
• Sergeant
• Trooper
• Police Officer

A general reference to the societal construction of and belief in "the law" as a body of order, surveillance, and discipline. The "law" can also be practiced by lawyers and advocates as well as enacted by public servants, such as police officers. Hillerman's relationship with "the law," at least in his novels, is ambiguous. At times, the law, as dictated by a society, serves to extract civil order from uncivil chaos. On the other hand, cultural traditions, such as those he observed on the Navajo and other reservations, seem to express a natural law, one that perhaps informs but that also transcends jurisprudence, for example the Navajo idea of hózhǫ́, an expression of natural equilibrium. The protagonists in Hillerman's Navajo detective novels, Leaphorn and Chee, are often placed in situations where they understand the written laws, but remain aware of the limitations and contradictions of the written law as it is practiced.

Magma, or molten rock, rising in liquid form onto the earth's surface, usually by volcanic eruption. The term also applies to the solidified rock that is formed once molten lava has cooled.

Mutton, or lamb, stew is a traditional and beloved component of the Navajo diet. Mutton stew consists of mutton simmered in a simple broth that may contain a variety of vegetables, especially green chile, squash, and hominy, and is often accompanied by fry bread, a form of unleavened bread that became a staple of the Navajo diet during their forced Long Walk and internment at Bosque Redondo during the 1860s. Sheep were introduced into the Americas by the Spanish in the sixteenth century, along with horses and cattle. During this time, the Navajo traded and raided for sheep from the Spanish. Sheep became a major part of their economy as well as their diet.

The Laguna Pueblo of central New Mexico consists of six major villages, of which the political center is Old Laguna (Kawaika) on a knoll above the San Jose River about 42 miles west of Albuquerque on U.S. Route 66/Interstate-40.

Although each Pueblo community is unique, Pueblos along the Rio Grande in New Mexico all share some common characteristics. From architecture to spiritual observances, Pueblo life consists of an integration of nature, spirit, and material in a synthesis that looks toward the holistic well-being not just of the community but also the universe in which it exists.

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

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 of the iconic Monument Valley. The community was home to an early day school, a tuberculosis sanatorium that became an Indian Health Service hospital, and several trading posts. The Navajo call this community "Tó Dinéeeshzhee,” which means "Fringed Water" or "Fingers of Water." There have also been several archaeological digs and explorations based out of Kayenta.

These evergreen conifers feature leaves that are like scales rather than the needles associated with pine trees. Junipers are well-adapted to hot, arid environments such as the high desert plains and mountains of the U.S. Southwest due to their extensive root systems. Native Americans, such as the Navajo, have traditionally used juniper to treat a range of maladies, including diabetes. Native Americans have also used juniper berries as a female contraceptive.

Junipers tend to grow and migrate in conjunction with the ebb and flow of pinyon pine stand secession. An over-abundance of junipers encroaching into a stand of pinyon pine indicates long-term drought or other ecosystem disturbances, such as over-grazing. In the U.S., the pinyon-juniper woodland range spans from New Mexico to southeastern California. It extends through the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and higher elevations of the Mohave Desert.

A pair of fused bones that make up the lower portion of the heads of creatures. Also known as the mandible, the lower jawbone hinges just under the cheekbone and is used to crush, pulverize, and masticate solid food.

A hogan is one of several traditional Navajo structures. Building hogans has ceremonial significance, and instructions for their construction have been passed down for generations, originating with the Holy People. In creation stories, the whole Navajo homeland is referred to as a hogan, and the walls that comprise the hogan's construction correspond with each of the cardinal directions and the four sacred mountains that mark the breadth of the Navajo homeland. As an extension of the Navajo belief system, the hogan's health and equilibrium need to be nourished and protected, similar to the people who live inside it. Although a hogan functions on a daily level as a ceremonial space for the observance of cumulatively significant small rituals, the hogan can also provide a space for larger healing practices such as ceremonial singing and associated sandpaintings.