Listening Woman (1978)

Also known as chert, flint is an exceptionally hard sedimentary rock that is therefore especially desirable when making stone tools that need to have and keep edges. Flint is found most often in masses of nodules that, when fractured, break into sharp-edged pieces. For at least two million years, humans have used a chipping method known as flint knapping to shape flint rock into spear points, arrowheads, blades, and other sharp tools.

Depending on soil composition, chert can occur in a wide range of colors. The term flint is generally used to indicate the darker varieties of chert. Blue flint can be found in New Mexico and other parts of the Southwest. It is deep blue or gray-blue in color and has been used to make jewelry as well as tools.

A component of many armies, cavalry refers to units of soldiers mounted on horseback. Historically cavalry units were very important in military operations due to the advantages of mobility and speed afforded by horses. Beginning in the late 1800s and continuing into the next century, the role for cavalry in the U.S. diminished with the introduction of new weapons. By the 1950s horses were no longer used by the U.S. Army, although some units are maintained ceremonially as part of state militias. The 1st Cavalry Division nevertheless served extensively in Vietnam using helicopters to transport weapons and vehicles.

This term is often used colloquially to mean the arrival of extra help to rescue a person or situation, as in "the cavalry has arrived!"

A relative measure of height that is applied to topography. The measuring starts with zero being sea-level. High altitude is usually defined as beginning around 8,000 feet above sea level.

The Four Corners region, within which most of Tony Hillerman's Navajo detective stories take place, is considered to be within the range of high altitude, with many mountains and peaks rising well above 8,000 feet. At high altitude, the atmosphere is thinner than at sea level, with resultant changes in ecosystem dispersal, weather patterns (dependent upon local and regional topography), and oxygen levels in the air.

A formal or prescribed set of observances that make up a regular practice, especially one carrying spiritual significance. A ritual can be performed alone or in small or large groups. Most communities around the world, have recurring gatherings, celebrations, or commemorations that are always performed in the same way according to agreed-upon standards. Such behaviors and events become ritualistic traditions that are often carried out through decades, centuries, or even millennia of repeated practices.

An arid environment characterized by limited rainfall, sparse vegetation, and animals that are specially adapted for extreme temperature changes. In the U.S. Southwest there are three deserts: the Chihuahuan desert in Texas and New Mexico, the Sonoran desert in Arizona and California, and the Mojave in California and Nevada. These deserts can be very hot during the day and become near freezing at night. This means that the plants and animals that live within these ecosystems must be specially adapted to find water and as well as thrive the diurnal temperature changes. Plants such as cacti and desert scrub brush have adapted by developing strategies for preserving water, such as growing massive networks of roots or having tiny leaves that lose less water through transpiration than larger leaves. Animals that inhabit these desert regions include birds, rabbits, coyotes, rats, mice, lizards, and snakes. These animals are mainly active at dawn, dusk, or during the night. Larger animals are less common, as they have problems adapting in an environment with such little water. Through time the Southwest is progressively becoming more arid, which has contributed to a change in the distributions of flora and fauna. Additionally, overgrazing of grasslands and the lowering of the water table has caused more erosion and the incisement of arroyos and washes.

High desert refers to deserts formed and existing at higher elevations, usually resulting in different vegetation and plant life as well as more precipitation in the more mountainous areas.

Sedimentary rock consisting of sand or quartz grains consolidated and compacted together, typically reddish in color, although yellow and brown versions are also common. Rock formations composed of sandstone are relatively porous, allowing for percolation of water and dynamic erosion by both water and wind.

Sandstone often forms dramatically colored and shaped cliffs and other geologic formations, such as the iconic stone monoliths in Monument Valley, Utah. The rock outcropping of El Morro, on the Zuni Reservation, is composed of yellowish-gray white sandstone known as Zuni Sandstone.

Also called shearling, a sheep's cured hide with the wool still attached.

Typically a small, often rounded object with a hole bored through the center through which a length of fiber, sinew, or gut can be threaded. Beads are formed from stone, bone, seeds, animal quills, and petrified wood as well as more exotic materials such as semi-precious stones, metals, clay, shells, and glass. A variety of beads were used as items of trade among many traditional societies, as they have been used in the production of jewelry and decorated clothing items.

Many Native American tribes in the United States have their distinctive connections to beads and beading. The beading of clothing, baskets, and ceremonial costumes and headdresses is held as a sacred tradition in many tribal communities. Much of this handiwork is very labor-intensive and learning to bead is an important and cherished tradition. Inside and outside tribal communities, beadwork is often viewed as art.

Bead can also refer to the little bead-sized bump used to help sight, or aim, a firing arm. The bead is typically found at the firing end of a gun or rifle barrel.

The Apache are Native American peoples who historically lived in the Great Basin, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. In popular culture they are remembered as being fierce warrior people and their name, Apache, is an Anglicization of the Zuñi word, ápachu, meaning “enemy.” The Apache were nomadic, meaning they traveled around seasonally following game. Women gathered vegetables, fruits, and grasses, while men hunted deer, hare, and antelope. Clothes included skirts for women and for men breechcloths of buckskin, and both wore hide high moccasins with pointed toes. They lived in ephemeral structures which included tipis and, most often, wickiups, a temporary cone-shaped hut. In addition to being great hunters, the Apache were known for being strong warriors. They had a raiding economy, which involved taking weapons, supplies, and occasionally captives.

In the 1500’s the Apache first made contact with Coronado and his troops during their exploration of the Southwest. This began a new era for the Southwest and the Apache. When the Spanish settled in the Southwest the Apache both traded with and raided their settlements. After the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, much of the northern holdings of the United Mexican States was ceded to the United States, who then considered themselves the rulers over much of the Apache historic territory. This led to a long bloody conflict known as the Apache Wars (approximately 1860-1886). Apache leaders during this long conflict included: Cochise, Victorio, Geronimo, and Mangas Coloradas. The last Apache resistance fighters, led by Geronimo, participated in the last Native American uprising in the United States. Eventually, the U.S. Army was able to force the Apache onto various reservations throughout the American Southwest and Oklahoma.

Acoma has been translated into English as both the "people of the white rock" as well as "a place always prepared." The Acoma are descended from Anasazi and earlier Mogollon cultures, and their pueblo has been continuously inhabited since the thirteenth-century. The primary community of the pueblo, Haaku, has existed on top of a sandstone monolith since at least 1200 CE, and is surrounded by a valley which the Acoma have farmed successfully for almost 1,000 years. Because of the pueblo's prime location, the Acoma were subject to periodic raids from neighboring Utes and Navajos and have also been subjected to Spanish, Catholic, and Anglo-European influences since the 16th century. Today, the Acoma are actively involved in the preservation of their culture in an approach that includes the Acoma Language Retention Project, as well as the conception that they are on an ongoing journey that demands engagement with the changing world around them.