Cultural Reference

Officially title "The Hollywood Squares," this was an iconic popular American television game show that aired between 1965-1982. Known for its humorous and oddball dialogue, the show involved nine celebrities sitting in a construction of squares simulating a game of tic-tac-toe, with two contestants trying to guess the accuracy of the celebrities' answers to trivia questions presented to them by the game-show host. The show offered prizes such as furniture sets, vacation trips, or cash to winning contestants. The show was revived as "Hollywood Squares" in the late 1990's and ran through 2004.

An academic field that is comprised of a group of disciplines concerned with human cultures, values, and forms of expression. In most universities and colleges the humanities are a separate division, distinct from the physical, biological, and social sciences, for example, that includes the study of languages, history, literature, art, and philosophy.

Although there are many versions of the Navajo origin story, in general the primary components and occurrences are present in most versions. According to the Diné Bahaneʼ, or the Story of the People, the Navajo emerged through various worlds to get to the present world, which is considered either the fourth of the fifth world. The Third World ( Niʼ Hałtsooí) is the Yellow World, and was entered after the People left the First, or Dark World, and the Second, or Blue World. In the Third World, a great flood occurred after Coyote stole two children from a the Big Water Creature (Tééhoołtsódii), whereas in the first two worlds, the People had fought amongst themselves and the creatures belonging to those worlds causing discord, insult, and anguish until they were asked to leave.

Also known as Blake's Lotaburger, Lotaburger is a fast food hamburger chain based in New Mexico. The chain was established in Albuquerque in 1952, and now has branches all over New Mexico as well as in El Paso, Texas.

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.

The Winged Monster, also known as the Great Bird or Monster Eagle (Tsé Nináhálééh), was one of those menacing beings. Most accounts tell of a giant bird who lived in Ship Rock (Tsé Bitʼaʼí), a landmark monolith in the Navajo homeland, located in northwestern New Mexico. The bird was very powerful and could lift people up in the air and throw them against the rocks in order to kill and then eat them. Monster Slayer, who had a magic feather which enabled him to survive the Winged Monster's attack, managed to trick the bird, destroy it, and tame its two young chicks, transforming them into an eagle and an owl. The geologic formation of Shiprock itself is also believed to be the body of the great monster layed out on the ground, with the two ridgelines extending away from the peak marking the beast's outstretched wings.

According Navajo traditional lore, the Bitter Water (Todích'íí'nii) clan was one of the original groups formed by Changing Woman who, as the legend goes, created four men by rubbing the skin under her arms. One of these men, searching for water, dug in the ground and found a water source that was bitter and undrinkable--hence the name that the clan has carried ever since.

The Navajo (Diné) tribe is comprised of more than forty family lineages, or clans, that claim common ancestry. In traditional history, the Todích'íí'nii (Bitter Water) is one of the original lineages formed within the Navajo People, which included the Standing House Clan, Bitter Water Clan, Near the Water Clan, Mud Clan, Water Edge Clan, and Two Streams Meet Clan.

This is the name the menstruation, puberty, or maturity ceremony that celebrates a Navajo girl's entrance into womanhood. There are different accounts of the processes, chronology, and rituals within the ceremony, but the aspects outlined below account for many of the variations found within the varying versions of the ceremony.

This ritual has been passed down through generations, originating with First Woman's daughter, Changing Woman, who had a kinaaldá so that the earth people could have children and be together in a way approved of by the Holy People. The first kinaaldá ceremony was performed at Emergence Place in First Woman's house. In the first kinaaldá Changing Woman ran in the direction of the sunrise four times, washed her hair in the suds of a yucca plant, was blessed and "molded" into a woman by her mother, and baked a large corn cake for the Sun. In some versions of the story, it is thought that White Shell Woman becomes Changing Woman during this ceremony.

In emulation of the coming to maturity of Changing Woman, shortly after her first menstruation, a young Navajo girl engages in a variety of tasks and traditional actions, many of which are performed alongside the women in her community. Some of these activities include washing of hair, being dressed and prepared by female family members, fasting, running long distances, offering and receiving blessings, and the making of a corn meal cake. On the final night, a hataalii (ceremonial healer) sings the twelve hogan songs with all in attendance participating in the sing until morning.

A scientific term for a corpse or dead body. The term is used often in medical contexts, for example when bodies of dead people or animals are dissected and used for the purpose of learning or determining the cause of death.

Peyote, a hallucinogenic cactus that grows primarily in Texas and Mexico, is a sacramental substance used in ceremonies conducted by the Native American Church, a synthesis of Christian and traditional indigenous beliefs. When ingested, peyote produces psychoactive visions, and the plant is believed to be a messenger of God's or Christ's spiritual power. Although the cactus is revered for the divine qualities associated with it, research did not uncover a direct reference to the term "Lord Peyote." The phrase may be a colloquialism invented by Tony Hillerman to refer to the transcendent power of the plant and the associated perception of spiritual intervention its consumption provokes.

A totem is a natural object, often in the shape of an animal, which symbolizes someone’s familial or spiritual connection to a group, extended family, or clan. This extended network of care and awarness manifests as an external form of empowerment that implicitly informs the daily lives of those for whom the totem is significant. Totem is a word derived or taken from the Ojibway word "ototeman," meaning "one's brother-sister kin," and was popularized during the late 19th-century craze for the new discipline of anthropology.

In addition to being objects found in nature, totems can also be carved objects or pieces of jewelry that are kept with people for protection.