People of Darkness (1980)

Medicine man is an Anglicized term that refers to traditional Native American healers. However, each tribe has unique understandings about the roles and responsibilities of their healers, who may also double as spiritual leaders. In the Navajo culture, there are four categories of healers: listeners, hand tremblers, and stargazers, who may be consulted about sickness, identifying witchcraft, dreams, lost items or any unusual happenings. But it is the haatali, or singer, who fills the position of medicine man in Navajo culture.

Traditionally called a haatali, or "singer," in Navajo, this healer performs ceremonial cures that are targeted at body, mind, and spirit. There are nearly 100 Navajo chants of varying range and intricacy. Originating from the Navajo Creation Story, they are so nuanced and complex that a medicine man learns only one or two sings over many years of apprenticeship. Ceremonies last anywhere from one to nine days and include chants, songs, prayers, lectures, dances, sweat baths, prayer sticks, and sand paintings. In order for a ceremony to be effective, everything must be done as prescribed in the legends.

An officer of the law who is in charge of post-mortem investigations when cause of death is under suspicion or during homicide cases. Medical examiners are responsible for determining cause of death, and their opinion, expertise, and any information they collect during the course of an investigaton can be called upon in court as evidence. In some cases, no medical training is required to fill the position; in other cases, medical examiners are required to hold medical degrees, in addition to having pursued advanced training in forensics and pathology.

Marble is a metamorphic rock that forms when limestone is subjected to heat and pressure underground, for example during the regional shifting of the Earth's crust or during volcanic activity.

The movement of electrons through a substance or material, such as a wire.

Generally speaking, in most indigenous traditions, including the Pueblo and Navajo cultures, when a dancer dons a mask for a specific ceremony, that dancer becomes the god represented by the mask, just as the mask becomes animated by the god as it is worn. The boy or man who prepares to wear a mask for a specific ritual actually becomes, or personates, the god whose semblance is captured by the mask. During the ceremony, the wearer does not impersonate or merely act like the god, but rather, he is the god.

Masks are sacred objects that facilitate communication and connection between man and gods. Even when not worn during ceremonial dances, masks are revered objects that are fed and taken care of, for example by Pueblo kiva societies or clans, who are responsible for the masks' well-being as if, and because, they are vital, dynamic, and sentient things.Masks are sacred objects that facilitate communication and connection between man and gods. Even when not worn during ceremonial dances, masks are revered objects that are fed and taken care of, for example by Pueblo kiva societies or clans, who are responsible for the masks' well being as if, and because, they are vital, dynamic, and sentient things.

The hollow, cylindrical portion of a gun through which bullets or shot are discharged. Gun barrels vary in length; the length affects the volume, accuracy, and velocity of the shot, as well as the ease of handling of the firearm itself. Depending on the type of gun, it may be loaded from the front or rear of the barrel.

A student pursuing an advanced academic or professional degree. At the end of academic graduate programs, as opposed to professional degree programs such as management, law, or medicine, students are required to submit a thesis or dissertation in some form, which is generally a report on their original research.

A small, portable safe that has a lock, used for securing valuable objects such as important documents, money, or jewelry against theft or fire damage.

A quality of richness in soil that has nearly equal amounts of clay, silt, and sand with humus, an organic substance consisting of decayed plat materials. Humus is the element that makes loamy soil incredibly fertile. This mix of sand, clay, silt, and humus causes the soil to be crumbly and prone to retain moisture.

A sedimentary rock composed primarily of calcium carbonate, colloquially known as calcite. Limestone can form in two ways: the first occurs when organic remains, such as coral and shell, accumulate as particulate debris on the ocean floor over time. The second method is the chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate, which is when calcium carbonate that may be dissolved in a watery landscapes precipitates, or is removed, from its marine solution to settle onto the ocean floor. The water in which limestone forms is often warm and calm, so that the organic remains or chemical depositions are able to accumulate undisturbed over time, ultimately compressing themselves into layers of limestone under their own weight. As the earth ages, limestone environments that were formerly under water become exposed as prehistoric bodies of water recede. Some of the most extraordinary limestone deposits can also be found underground in caves, like those found throughout the Southwestern United States.