People of Darkness (1980)

A small town located in central New Mexico, just north of Interstate 40, about 75 miles west of Albuquerque. It is the county seat for Cibola (formerly Valencia) county. The area was first inhabited by ancient Puebloans in the 12th century, but was left abandoned until European and American settlers arrived in the late 1800s, along with a railroad station. First named Grant's Camp after the three Grant brothers who were contracted to build the region's railroads, the town later changed its name to Grant's Station, and eventually in 1936 to Grants. The community's early economy was based on logging, ranching, and farming but when uranium was discovered in the 1950s the town saw a growing boom as the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission established large mining operations in the area. After the recession of the 1980s, and the ensuing decline of the uranium mining industry, the town gradually developed a more diverse economy. Its history and proximity to national monuments and forests (including Mount Taylor, the Zuni Mountains, Acoma Pueblo, El Malpais, and Chaco Culture National Historical Park) make it an attractive destination for tourists, Route 66 tourists, and outdoor recreation enthusiasts.

A colloquial term referring to a medical device known as the negative pressure ventilator. The device is a large metal tank that can accommodate a human body, providing mechanical respiratory assistance for patients who are unable to breathe on their own. A basic model of the negative pressure ventilator tank was constructed in 1927 by Philip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw at Harvard University. Although later models have improved functionality and comfort, the principle design was maintained, with an electric motor powering a pump that changes the pressure inside the airtight metal tube, simulating the pulling of air in and out of the lungs. Negative pressure ventilators were used extensively in hospitals in the 1940s and 1950s during the polio epidemic. They are still used in many cases where patients, for a variety of reasons including paralysis and temporary disabling of the diaphragm, fail to breathe normally on their own.

Intravenous is a medical term referring to entering the body through a vein. In hospital settings, patients who are severely dehydrated or who have have difficulty eating or digesting can be fed intravenously by a tube inserted into a vein.

One of the most iconic interstates in the U.S, this route followed and ultimately replaced Route 66. I-40 connects the primary urban areas mentioned in Tony Hillerman's Navajo detective stories including Flagstaff, AZ and Gallup, Grants, and Albuquerque, NM. I-40 is also the primary thoroughfare for traveling east-west through Indian Country.

A historically incorrect but contemporaneously common method of referring to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Believing, or hoping, that they had stumbled upon the eastern shores of the subcontinent of India, fifteenth- and sixteenth-century European explorers called the local peoples they encountered "indios" (in Spanish) or Indians; the misnomer stuck and is a vernacular conundrum that persists in the Americas through to the present. Contemporary references to indigenous peoples in the Americas have replaced "Indian" with tribal names, or the terms "Native American" or "First Peoples."

Hillerman's fiction deals exclusively with Native American cultures located in the Southwest region of the U.S., in particular the Navajo, but also the Hopi, Zuni, and other Pueblo groups. In most cases, Hillerman uses the word Indian when referring to members of these various cultures.

A medium-sized antelope found in the savanna and woodland habitats of eastern and southern Africa. Impalas move in big herds as a strategy of protection against predators. If one impala detects the presence of a predator (a lion, for example), it will bark an alarm, and the whole herd will promptly flee. Impalas are fast runners, can leap in bounds as long as 33 feet, and soar up to 10 feet in the air. The impala is known and coveted for its long, curved horns. Due to extensive hunting, loss of habitat, and interbreeding, it is now declared an endangered species.

A wild goat population whose natural habitat is in mountain ranges in parts of Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. The ibex is famous for its hardiness and agility, living in the rocky, rugged terrains of high mountains. It is easily recognized by the long, back-curving horns of the male. Ibex populations across the world have been declining due to extensive hunting and habitat loss, but the species is not endangered.

Hózhǫ́ is the state in which all living things are ordered, in balance, and walking in beauty. The opposite of hózhǫ́ is hóchxǫ́ǫ́, which refers to disorder and chaos in one’s life. In Hillerman's work, chaos and imbalance manifest as as physical or mental illness, an infection obtained from contact with modern values of the mainstream U.S. culture.

A television weather forecaster who worked for KOAT-channel 7, a TV station based in Albuquerque, NM, for 28 years, from 1971 to 1999. Morgan was a familiar and popular TV personality in New Mexico, and was known for his sense of humor and his artistic talents.

The city is named after Sam Houston, the first president of Texas and a leader of the 1834-36 struggle against Mexico to win control of the state and annex it as a U.S. territory. Established as a small settlement in 1837, the town grew slowly until the first railroad arrived in 1853, but saw consistent development and expansion after that. In 1863, it became one of the headquarters of the Confederacy, playing a significant role during the Civil War. After the war, segregation led to the development of separate neighborhoods for whites, African Americans, and Hispanics, and growing racial tensions culminated in violent riots in 1917. Today, Houston is considered one of the most diverse cities in the U.S. It is one of the country's largest transportation hubs and is home to many colleges and universities, cultural centers, and leading medical institutions.