Cultural Reference

A form of cleansing one’s body using heat to encourage perspiration while in a structure with little to no ventilation. In the Navajo tradition, sweat baths are completed in a sweat house, which is a smaller form of the ordinary hogan, except that it has no smoke hole, as a fire is never kindled in it. Stones are heated in a fire outside and carried into the house, where they may then be doused with water and herbs to produce aromatic, healing vapors.

Among the five branches of the Unites States military, the Army is a large military force that is trained for war on land. The mission of the U.S. Army is to preserve peace and defend the nation. The first U.S. army was the Continental Army that was organized for the American Revolution between 1775- 1783. Like all other military branches, the U.S. Army operates under the ultimate command of the President, with the next highest ranking official being General.

Wind is an important concpet in the belief system of many traditional cultures. Wind is considered the basis for a person’s temperament and behavior and the reason a person is animated and alive. Within this understanding of wind as an animating agent, there is also the notion of wind as a holy breeze, which, in Navajo, is also known as Little Wind or Wind's Child (Nilch'i biyázhi). The Little Wind, the force that gives people the ability to breathe and “stand erect," is initiated during conception, when a man lies with a woman and they share breath. At birth, with the infant's first breath, wind is given to the child again, and it is this wind that will guide the child’s life.

According to Navajo belief, Little Wind people are seen as benevolent deities and offer advice to people in danger. Wind puts himself in the folds of the ears, and whatever it speaks for advice is true. This ties the individual strongly to the natural world, with the notion that a person's thoughts and actions do not belong exclusively to the individual but also to the holy air.

Black God, known as Haashchʼééshzhiní in Navajo, is the god of fire and creator of the stars according to Navajo tradition. In his Navajo mystery series, Tony Hillerman often refers to Black God as Darkness to Be One. Not all accounts credit Black God with the creation of the constellations, but most credit him with the creation of fire and light as found in the stars. He has a crescent moon on his forehead, a full moon for a mouth, the constellation Pleiades on his temple, and he wears a buckskin mask covered in sacred charcoal with white paint. It is said that whenever Black God stomps his foot, the Flint Boys would up on him, eventually remaining on his forehead and representing the Pleiades.

A word used by Hillerman to refer to the work of people known in some Native American traditions as witches. In the Navajo tradition, about which Hillerman wrote most often, Navajo witches are also known as Navajo wolves or skinwalkers. In general, it is believed that witches cause physical infections that stem from spiritual imbalances associated with death. Because witches are connected with death (to become a witch in the Navajo tradition, one must murder a family member), all dealings with witches are always already tainted with death and uncleanliness. If one becomes infected with illness because of contact with a witch, or because one is the target of a witch's hex, healing ceremonials need to take place to cure the sickness and help the invalid regain balance, also known as hózhǫ́ . Hillerman used the same term of witchcraft to refer to other evil goings on and unproper behavior for other tribes, like the Hopi.

Also known as Talking God to Be One, Soft Talker, or Dawn Bearer (hastseyalti, yeibeichai), Talking God is a main Navajo deity. One of the four Holy People who live in the mountains, Talking God is associated with the color white, acts as a mentor, guides human life, helps Changing Woman give birth to and prepare the Monster Slayer Twins for their fateful battles, and can travel on rainbows. He plays a very large role in the Navajo creation story, helping create First Man and First Woman among other things .

Talking God is also known for his compassion, being one of the few deities in the Navajo cosmology who is a constant advocate on behalf of The People, which is how the Navajo, or Diné, refer to themselves.

A wide-brimmed and high-crowned hat generally made of felt that was originally made by John B. Stetson Company, founded in 1865. Known as “Boss of the Plains,” this hat is often worn by men and women working in relatively extreme weather conditions, such as the high plains, intermountain west, and the southern deserts. The high crown allows air to flow over the top of the head better than other hats, while still providing scalp and facial protection from the sun. Although the company, now known simply as "Stetson," manufactures other products including apparel, perfume, and bourbon, the Stetson hat became and remained crucial to the business as the most popular object produced by the company, earning an iconic association with the American West.

In some indigenous traditions, it is taboo to kill certain animals, such as bears, coyotes, wolves, and cougars, and their pelts are forbidden from being used. Therefore, for an individual to make use of or to wear a wolf skin can be considered a radical if not offensive practice.

In some versions of Navajo tradition, for example, skinwalkers are said to wear an animal skin in order to obtain the attributes, power, and nature of the animal from which the skin was taken. In other versions of this mythology, skinwalkers are described as mutated versions of the animal whose skin they're wearing.

Because of these beliefs, sometimes it is said that the Navajo call the wolf "mai-coh," meaning witch. Here, the suspicion toward wolves derives not from the nature of the wolf, but rather from human nature. Both the Navajo and the Hopi believed that human witches use or possibly abuse the wolf's powers to hurt other people. While Europeans warn of a wolf in sheep's clothing, some traditional indigenous beliefs caution against a human in wolf's clothing.

The Navajo Ye-i, also often spelled yeii or yei, are something along the lines of spirit, god, demon, or monster. According to what is known of the Navajo origin story, these spiritual beings emerged from the lower worlds before the creation of the human race. At times they are referred to as Holy People. These Holy People are immortal beings that can take the form of animals, plants, landscape elements, or celestial bodies, but are viewed as supernatural beings and not deities. They are called holy because of their power and mystery and the fact that they live in the sacred realm.

Because the Navajo believe that the land, the immortal beings, and they themselves on earth are all connected, they strive to live life according to hozho, which translates roughly to harmony, balance, and beauty. The Ye-i can be called down to earth through ceremonies, rituals, and prayers and asked to help restore hozho when things fall out of balance. Ye-i are often drawn in sandpaintings during certain healing ceremonials, and depending on the ritual, Ye-i masks may be worn by participants to represent the supernatural beings. If the ceremony is performed in the correct way, and the Ye-i are pleased, then according to the belief they feel obliged to right the wrong that is disrupting the harmony or cure the sick patient.

According to what is known of Navajo mythology, Father Sky and Mother Earth are considered to be the parents of everything. Father Sky is sacred, as are his offerings: air, wind, thunder, lightning, and rain. Mother Earth is equally revered, as is everything that she offers: mountains, vegetation, animals, and water.

Father Sky and Mother Earth appear in many of the sandpaintings associated with Navajo healing ceremonies. They are invoked in these paintings not because of their part in a particular story but because of their strength and overall importance. In the body of Mother Earth are the four sacred plants—corn, bean, squash and tobacco. In the body of Father Sky are the constellations, including the Milky Way, represented by the intertwined zigzag lines of dots, and the sun and the moon, represented by the circles with "horns."