People of Darkness (1980)

The term refers to mineral deposits (typically metals) in the earth's crust that can be extracted for various uses, such as for use as pigment when ground, as well as for profit. Common types of ore include iron, copper, zinc, lead, and gold.

According to the Navajo Creation Myth, in the process of emerging from the underworlds and settling on their land, the People (Diné) faced many dangers from the natural environment and its harsh conditions, as well as from spiritual beings. These threats figure in the legends as monsters that take the shape of humans, birds, animals, and rocks. The heroic figures of the twin warrior brothers Born of Water (Tobadzîschíni) and Monster Slayer (Nayé̆nĕzganĭ) were engaged in a series of battles with the various monsters, and, as the legends tell it, destroyed them one by one.

One Who Kicks People Over the Cliff (Tséh-ed-áh-eh-delkíthly) is also known as Kicking Rock or Rock that Kicks People into the River. As most accounts tell it, this rock monster lived on the San Juan River in Northern New Mexico, with his head in the bluffs and his feet at the river bank. This rock used to push people over the cliff and into the river. Monster Slayer killed this rock monster by hitting him on the head and cutting off his limbs. Sparing the monster's children, he then proceeded to tame them, turning them into an alligator and a turtle.

At 11,306 feet, Mount Taylor is the highest peak in the San Mateo range, located about 15 miles northeast of Grants, New Mexico. In the winter its snow-capped peak is especially noticeable. During the Spanish rule of the region, the mountain was called Cebolleta (little onion). In 1849, after the U.S.-Mexico War, it was renamed after President Zachary Taylor. For the indigenous peoples of the area, Mount Taylor is a revered and spiritually significant location. In Navajo it is known as Tsoodzil (Turquoise Mountain) and is one of the four sacred mountains that mark the Navajo homeland.

According to Hillerman's version of Navajo mythology, First Man buried turquoise in this range, hence its symbolic blue color. Under Hillerman's interpretation, the chief of the Enemy Gods, Yé'iitsoh, once resided in this peak. When the Twin War Gods (Born for Water and Monster Slayer, sons of Changing Woman) killed Yé'iitsoh, his blood spilled down the slopes and hardened into the lava flows of El Malpais in the area surrounding Grants. The mountain features as a central and meaningful location for Blessingway and Enemyway ceremonies.

The capital, and largest city, in the state of Oklahoma. The city was founded in 1889, after homesteaders in the area staked claims to farmlands that were originally Native American territories along the North Canadian River in what is now central Oklahoma. The town developed as an agricultural and livestock trading center but over time its economy grew and diversified to include the petroleum, aircraft, automobile, and electronics industries. In 1995, the city made international news when a deadly attack of domestic terrorism killed 168 people at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

Also known as the Night Chant, the Night Way is one of the most commonly performed ceremonials in the Navajo tradition. The Night Way (Yébîchai in Navajo) is a healing ceremony that lasts for nine days and nights and is performed only in the winter months. Specifically, the Night Way is meant to restore balance, health, and equilibrium for those suffering from paralysis, blindness, and deafness, although it can also be performed to restore social and natural order between the supplicant and the natural environment. In essence, the Night Chant, as with most Navajo healing ceremonials, endeavors to to ameliorate strained relations between Man and the Universe, thereby restoring order, balance, harmony, and health.

The ritual, perhaps the most complex in the Navajo repertoire of healing chants, includes praying, sacred dancing, pollen blessing, and sandpainting. The singer, or spiritual leader of the ceremony, must recite specific healing chants that are intended to provoke a meditative trance or to create the aural context for the ceremonial. Such chants are often comprised of repeated phrases and can be thought of as sung prayers.

In U.S. police departments, officer refers to a low-ranking member of the police force.

A French dish that literally means "eggs in jelly." The dish is composed of a poached egg encased in savory, broth-infused gelatin, in which smoked salmon, sweet peas, asparagus, or baby carrots may also suspended. The process of making oeufs en gelée, which are usually served either for breakfast or as the first course of a full dinner, is long and involved, requiring carefully-chosen ingredients and advanced cooking skills.

French for "object of art" or "art object." An objet d'art is usually small, possesses unique artistic value, and is cherished for its beauty or special artistic meaning. A term that is sometimes used in a patronizing, or cynical, fashion to describe the objects displayed by a dilettante, or pretentious, collector.

A toxic chemical liquid that is a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids. The nitroglycerin formula is highly explosive and is used as an important ingredient in most forms of dynamite, as well as in propellant bombs (rockets and missiles). Nitroglycerin also has a history in the study and practice of medicine, specifically in the management of angina (heart pains) and heart failure.

In Navajo, another word for "wolf" is "mai-coh," meaning witch. The Navajo fear of wolves derives not from the nature of the animal but rather from the potential for monstrous behavior from humans. Both the Navajo and the Hopi believe that human witches use or possibly abuse the wolf's powers to influence other people. While Europeans warned of a wolf in sheep's clothing, some Native American tribal beliefs cautioned against a human in wolf's clothing. Literally, the Navajo wolf, or witch, can also be referred to as a skinwalker. Not all Navajo witches are skinwalkers, but all skinwalkers are witches.

In some Native American myths, a skinwalker is a person with the supernatural ability to turn into any animal he or she desires. To affect this transformation, legends suggest that skin-walkers need to wear a pelt of the animals they desire to metamorphose into, though this is not always considered necessary. In addition to transforming into animals, the skinwalker has other powers. He or she can read others' minds, control people’s thoughts and behavior, bring forth disease, destroy homes, and even cause death. Trained in both physical medicine for the body and spiritual medicine for the spirit, skinwalkers braid the two practices tightly together, as most skinwalkers at one time served in the position of healer and spiritual guide for their communities. Initiation into the deviant life of a skinwalker mandates breaking the killing taboo and taking the life of a member of the skinwalker's immediate family, usually a sibling.