The colloquial name for wool hats that started showing up in Indian Country around the time of the Civil War. The hats, in different colors, were modified by U.S. Army campaign forces by altering the brims, the crowns, and their accessories. The rez version remains relatively unadulterated, as in the brim remains flat and the crown free of "dimples," other than local variations on the hat band, which could be beaded, of tooled leather, and even strands of silver conchos.
A U.S.-based company that makes shotguns, rifles, handguns, and ammunition. The total company name is Remington Arms Company, LLC, and it is the oldest rifle-making company in the U.S., having been in the arms and ammunition business since 1816.
In traditional Native American cultures, "religion" is an alien concept. Rather than religion, these traditional societies acknowledge, respect, and participate in what can be understood as a reciprocal relationship between the individual and other individuals, the community, nature and natural phenomenon, and sacred beings. This reciprocity has attained the level of ceremony and spiritual tradition over centuries of observance. It has also been augmented, and sometimes replaced, by the imposition of Christianity, especially, although not exclusively, Catholicism.
When Tony Hillerman writes "Zuni religion," for example, he is referring to the traditional Zuni way, one that predates Christianity or European influence.
The common raven is a large, heavy-billed black bird. Ravens are larger than crows and have more rugged plumage. Ravens are also the largest perching bird, and can have a wingspan of more than 4 feet. Ravens are very intelligent birds and are known to collect shiny objects. Ravens are scavengers, unlike crows, and are drawn to carrion. As a result, various cultures have associated them with death. Ravens are found in deserts, forests and mountainous areas around the world.
In Navajo teaching, a "two-faced" creature was responsible for both the creation of the world and for bringing death into that same world. Along with coyote, rattlesnake, and spider, raven is considered a "two-faced" creature.
A broad expanse of canyonlands inclusive of much of the Colorado Plateau and the Mogollon Rim, the Rainbow Plateau covers territory in the Navajo Nation, Arizona, and Utah. Comparable in scale to the Tibetan Plateau, the Rainbow Plateau is one of the largest canyon lands in the world, as well as one of the most colorful. Some of the well-known sites on the plateau include the Painted Desert, the Grand Canyon, the Vermillion Cliffs, Rainbow Bridge National Monument, and Chaco Canyon.
Rainbow Man is a yé’ii, or supernatural being, found in Navajo mythology, often employed as a symbol of harmony by signifying an attentiveness to Talking God, the grandfather yé’ii. The curved symbol of the yeii who controls the rainbow, often appears in jewelry, healing ceremonies, and sand paintings.
An individual who is authorized to perform as a mediator between the people and a transcendent power. The priest's authority enables him or her to perform in both a spiritual and administrative capacity within his belief system's influence and jurisdiction.
The indigenous peoples of the U.S. Southwest each have some version of a rain dance ceremonial. This dance is meant to honor the relationship between the people and the kachinas (or spirit beings) responsible for rain. At many points throughout Tony Hillerman's Navajo detective series, various phrases will be used interchangeably to reference the blessings and prayers for rain, calling to mind the variety of beliefs that the people of the Southwest region have with regard to rain in their desert environments.
A device that emits electromagnetic waves. These waves can be used to transmit sound at different frequencies, and the sound is picked up by radios tuned to those frequencies. The radio transmitter was first created in 1887 by German physicist Heinrich Hertz and the first music signal transmitted via radio waves was in 1906 in Boston, Massachusetts. Radio transmitters are still in use today, especially in remote areas with limited telephone capabilities.
Radar, an acronym for "radio detection and ranging," was developed and in use by several nations as early as World War II. Radar is a system that detects objects and their movements through time and space by emitting pulses of radio waves. When these waves encounter an object, the waves' movement is disrupted, and readings of this disruption bounce back in the direction from which they were emitted, where their energy is read and analyzed to determine size and direction and speed of movement of the object encountered.