A sound an animal makes, similar to a howl or a loud growl. Most often associated with canids, including wolves, coyotes, foxes, and the domesticated dogs.
When one desires to delay something, or to keep some amount of distance between oneself and another, one can work to keep something "at bay." This saying derives from the fraught relationship between a baying hound, for example, and its prey, and the desire of the prey to remain as far away from capture as possible.
This term refers to female members of the family Canidae, including wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes and domesticated dogs. This term first appeared in the 11th century; the Middle English form is bicche. The meaning of this word has been appropriated as an abusive term referring to difficult or spiteful women.
While there are many different versions of the Navajo Origin Myth, the general outlines of the myth are present in all versions, and First Woman (Áłtsé Asdzą́ą́), usually alongside First Man (Áłtsé Hastiin), is present in every version. First Man and First Woman are considered the builders of this world, responsible for creating the four sacred mountains, the first hogan, and the holy figures. First Man then completes a night-long ceremony where he creates beauty, balance, and order. It is into this world that the child of First Man and First Woman, Changing Woman, is born. It is Changing Woman’s twin boys, Monster Slayer and Born for Water, who defeat the monsters in this world and make it safe for the Navajo people to live in. Changing Woman takes over creation duties from First Man and First Woman.
While there are many different versions of the Navajo Origin Myth, the general outlines of the myth are present in all versions, and First Woman (Áłtsé Asdzą́ą́), usually alongside First Man (Áłtsé Hastiin), is present in every version. First Man and First Woman are considered the builders of this world, responsible for creating the four sacred mountains, the first hogan, and the holy figures. First Man then completes a night-long ceremony where he creates beauty, balance, and order. It is into this world that the child of First Man and First Woman, Changing Woman, is born. It is Changing Woman’s twin boys, Monster Slayer and Born for Water, who defeat the monsters in this world and make it safe for the Navajo people to live in. Changing Woman takes over creation duties from First Man and First Woman.
In some versions of Navajo ceremonial traditions, Big Fly, known as Do'tsoh in Navajo, and what Hillerman sometimes refers to as Sacred Fly, or Little Winds, is the guardian of Navajo sandpainting and oftentimes will hover near or land on a person's shoulder while the painter is working. When he sits on the shoulder, Big Fly answers questions sent down by the elders. In this, the Navajo Big Fly shares many similarities with the Zuni dragonfly character, who, similar to Big Fly, manifests as a liaison between the people and their spirit ancestors.
A child born out of wedlock (marriage), who is therefore considered "illegitimate." Often used as a vernacular insult, suggesting that an individual is somehow less than fully deserving of the rights and protections associated with membership in a community, regardless of the marital status of his or her biological parents.
Anthropology is the study of human cultures past and present and includes the four sub-fields of physical anthropology, cultural anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics.
More often spelled bilagáana, this word is an Anglicization of the Navajo word used to refer to people who have white skin.
An amphibious creature surprisingly populous in the arid west, found in ephemeral waterways and during the summer monsoons. In the Navajo tradition, Frog (or First Frog) is the deity who can make floodwaters recede, spread water over fire, and who plays a role in fertility. The Navajo believe that when the First People came to the present world, Frog volunteered to release the black rain from one of his coats to put out the fire started by Coyote when he stole it from Fire Man. Crane volunteered to fly and carry frog over the fire to accomplish this task.
Also found in some versions of the Navajo tradition, it is taboo to kill a frog, or any other amphibian, due to their strong association with the curative and destructive powers of water. It is believed that to take the life of a frog would result in devastating floods and ruined crops, and the frog killer would require a healing ceremony. Another Navajo taboo associated with frogs is watching a frog eat, which would result in difficulty swallowing and other throat conditions.
In contemporary scholarship, the Anasazi are also referred to as Ancient or Ancestral Pueblo peoples. Neither Navajo nor modern Pueblo society condone the use of the word Anasazi, which is a Navajo word meaning "Ancient Enemy." Ancestral Pueblo culture was concentrated in the Four Corners area of the Southwest, including the present day states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, and is known for the range of structures it left behind, especially its cliff dwellings, many of which are found in Many Ruins Canyon (Canyon de Chelly). These ancient Puebloans are also remembered for their extensive use of irrigated agriculture, especially maize (corn), and their intricate pottery designs.
Both prehistoric and modern Puebloans are noted for their masonry structures, known as pueblos. These structures are built in room blocks, generally with a central plaza. These room blocks are stacked upon one another as individual apartments and storage facilities and are accessed from the roof via ladders. In addition to storage and living quarters, within the pueblo complex there are also subterranean ceremonial structures known as kivas.