People of Darkness (1980)

A durable and inexpensive type of flooring that was invented in the nineteenth century and became quite popular in the U.S. in the 1950s and onward. Linoleum floor covering is made of a combination of solidified linseed oil (the "lin" in "linoleum"), wood dust, and pigment. This substance is then thickly layered onto a flexible backing such as canvas or burlap. Because of its durable nature and availability, linoleum can now be found in homes, public buildings, printshops and other workshops, as well as breakdance studios.

In military or paramilitary organizations, such as police departments, a hierarchical organization of personnel exists, often called the chain of command.

The general rankings within a police force, depending on its size, is as follows, in order from highest to lowest rankings:

• Chief
• Deputy/Assistant Chief
• Commander
• Inspector
• Captain
• Lieutenant
• Sergeant
• Trooper
• Police Officer

A general reference to the societal construction of and belief in "the law" as a body of order, surveillance, and discipline. The "law" can also be practiced by lawyers and advocates as well as enacted by public servants, such as police officers. Hillerman's relationship with "the law," at least in his novels, is ambiguous. At times, the law, as dictated by a society, serves to extract civil order from uncivil chaos. On the other hand, cultural traditions, such as those he observed on the Navajo and other reservations, seem to express a natural law, one that perhaps informs but that also transcends jurisprudence, for example the Navajo idea of hózhǫ́, an expression of natural equilibrium. The protagonists in Hillerman's Navajo detective novels, Leaphorn and Chee, are often placed in situations where they understand the written laws, but remain aware of the limitations and contradictions of the written law as it is practiced.

Magma, or molten rock, rising in liquid form onto the earth's surface, usually by volcanic eruption. The term also applies to the solidified rock that is formed once molten lava has cooled.

A machine that holds a round object in place and enables working on it symmetrically it by spinning or rotating the object while a fixed sharp tool shapes, cuts, or sands the object evenly on all sides. Lathes are typically used for wood or metal works and can be small or very large, depending on the type of work they are utilized for.

Mutton, or lamb, stew is a traditional and beloved component of the Navajo diet. Mutton stew consists of mutton simmered in a simple broth that may contain a variety of vegetables, especially green chile, squash, and hominy, and is often accompanied by fry bread, a form of unleavened bread that became a staple of the Navajo diet during their forced Long Walk and internment at Bosque Redondo during the 1860s. Sheep were introduced into the Americas by the Spanish in the sixteenth century, along with horses and cattle. During this time, the Navajo traded and raided for sheep from the Spanish. Sheep became a major part of their economy as well as their diet.

The Laguna Pueblo of central New Mexico consists of six major villages, of which the political center is Old Laguna (Kawaika) on a knoll above the San Jose River about 42 miles west of Albuquerque on U.S. Route 66/Interstate-40.

Although each Pueblo community is unique, Pueblos along the Rio Grande in New Mexico all share some common characteristics. From architecture to spiritual observances, Pueblo life consists of an integration of nature, spirit, and material in a synthesis that looks toward the holistic well-being not just of the community but also the universe in which it exists.

The Laguna people of central New Mexico consist of a pueblo group that occupies six major villages, of which the political center is Old Laguna (Kawaika) on a knoll above the San Jose River about 42 miles west of Albuquerque on U.S. Route 66/Interstate-40. Both the Spanish word "laguna" and the Keresan word "Kawaika" mean "lake." Living in modular, terraced pueblo communities similar to other regional descendants of the Ancestral Mogollon Puebloans, the Laguna understand that all things in nature are sacred and connected and that relationships between natural elements are both reciprocal as well as cyclical.

Notable members of the Laguna include photographer Lee Marmon, his daughter the novelist Leslie Marmon Silko, and political activist Paula Gunn Allen. Allen is considered the foremother of Native literature.

A warm winter hat made of knit wool.

In Puebloan tradition, a kiva is both a sacred space to observe religious rituals as well as a society associated with a particular kiva. Kivas symbolize Puebloan emergence, or birth, into this world, and their architecture evokes an enclosed space of sacred potential. The training associated with healing rituals or with the social responsibilities of each kiva society occurs within the particualr kiva associated with thatspecific power or responsibility. Each kiva cares for and is identified by a mask associated with its guiding entity, a force or persona associated with weather, health, warfare, or collective well-being.