Cultural Reference

Similar to a capacious envelope, a billfold, sometimes referred to as a wallet, is usually made of leather or other pliable yet durable material and is designed to carry paper money and credit cards. Billfolds are usually small enough to be shoved in a back pocket of a pair of jeans.

A style of American music that originated in the rural parts of the South and the West, and was developed by white farmers and laborers, primarily English, Scottish, and Irish settlers who sang and played ballads and folk songs with persistent Celtic roots that were influenced in great part by African call-and-response harmonics and rhythms. A combination of "country," or Appalachian, musical tonalities with the lyrical thematics of the Western frontier, the term "country and western," later shortened to country western, was first coined in the 1940s, when recording studios aimed to market this style of music as something more attractive than "hillbilly music," the derogatory term for Appalachian hill country music by which it was known before reaching wider markets. Over the years, the new label was shortened to simply "country." Country music is characterized by its heavy reliance on strings, using guitar and fiddle as leading instruments, with melodies played over a rhythmic strumming of banjo or another guitar. During the golden years of country western music, the music and associated lyrics told realistic stories of hardship, poverty, and tragedy, and were often infused with a strong working class moral ethic and even some social critique. As the genre expanded, migrated to big cities, and became a global phenomenon, the music absorbed various influences such as blues, gospel, or swing jazz, and later on rock, pop, Latin, and rap stylings. Lyrics also changed to become more sentimental and focused on the individual rather than the collective.

Although there are many variations of the creation myth among the indigenous peoples of the Southwest, basic elements of the story are repeated and point to similar historical, spiritual, and ethical concepts. The Navajo origin story, for example, tells of the emergence of the mythological ancestors, the Insect People, from the First World, which was a dark and chaotic underworld. From that first world, the people journeyed through four more realms until they reached their mature existence on Earth as we know it now, which, depending on the version, is known as either the Fourth or the Fifth World. The tales of transitioning through the realms illustrate spiritual and moral development, which, according to the stories, is a search for order and peace that is usually triggered by conflict and misconduct. Above this present existence there is believed to be a Sixth world of perfect harmony.

Whether the current world is numbered the Fourth or the Fifth, in several indigenous traditions, the previous world is remembered as one without color,only black and white. In this last transitional realm before reaching the surface world, First Man and First Woman came into being, and the Insect People, with the help of the gods and the Kisani (Pueblo people) assumed their final human form and were taught how to farm, hunt, speak, and perform ceremonies. They lived in peace for a long time, but then quarrels arose and induced conflicts, hardships, and an eventual flood that destroyed life in the Fourth World and carried the People into the Fifth World. In the Fifth World, the present surface reality, the Dinehtah (the Navajo homeland) was created. The four sacred mountains were established (Mount Blanca in the east, Mount Taylor in the south, the San Francisco Peaks in the west, and Mount Hesperus in the north), and rain was made. Finally, light and color entered the world with the creation of the sun, the moon, and the stars.

In the Hopi tradition, the fourth world is representative of the world the Hopi live in today. Each of the previous worlds are below one another, going deeper into the ground. When the people emerged, they were given permission and guided by the deity Masaw, who had previously been the guardian of the underworld. Taiowa, the Creator, gave Masaw the chance to guard the fourth world after he had lost privileges of guarding the third. Masaw guided the people to their home in Oraibi on Third Mesa and gave them the gift of fire.

A car rental company that was founded in the early 1920s by John D. Hertz. Its first rental office was opened in 1932 at the Midway Airport in Chicago, with many more to follow over the next decades as the company grew steadily. Today Hertz is a multinational corporation with branches all over the U.S. as well as in many countries abroad.

Unlike the typical four-door sedan design, a station wagon has five doors, because it does not have a rear trunk that is separate from the passenger compartment. Instead, the body of the car is one unified space, with room for cargo in the back that can be enlarged by folding down the back seats. The back of a station wagon can typically be accessed via a tailgate—a door that can be lowered to form a dock for easy loading. Station wagons were popularized as family cars after World War Two, and reached the peak of their popularity in the 1970s. Minivans, SUVS, and finally high-end hatchback crossovers replaced the station wagon, all of which replicate in some form it’s suburban family-on-the-go characteristics.

Often, station wagons are referred to colloquially as "wagons."

One of the largest American mining corporations to have operated in the 20th century. The company was founded in 1880, reached a peak of production in the 1950s, and in 1977 was bought by the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) and eventually dissolved. Although copper was the original focus of Anaconda's operations, the company gradually diversified its ore mining interests to include aluminum, silver, uranium, and oil.

During the 1950s, Anaconda, along with other national mining companies, had invested in uranium mining as well as oil drilling in New Mexico, and had operated major production sites in the Grants mineral belt.

A type of Navajo woven rug which depicts spiritual deities (yei) in designs based on elaborate sand-paintings. The yei style of weaving developed in the Shiprock, NM area the early years of the twentieth century. These rugs are usually small- or medium-sized, portraying front-facing, colorful, slender figures on white or tan backgrounds. Although the yei design represents religious figures, the rugs are not considered sacred objects and are normally used as decorative pieces to hang on the wall, much like fine art paintings.

Along with the word "trousers," slacks is a somewhat old-fashioned synonym for the word pants, which is commonly used in the U.S. (but not in Britain) to refer to a two-legged garment meant to cover the lower body from the waist down. Slacks often refer pants that are more dressy or formal than jeans, for example, especially if they have a pleats or knife-edged crease. At the same time, the term excludes pants that are part of a suit. Slacks can be worn by women or men.

Also known as Grandmother Spider, Spider Woman is a powerful figure in various Native American mythologies. In many creation and migration stories she appears as a helpful teacher, guide, and protector. In the Acoma emergence account, for example, she gave the People seeds and showed them how to grow food. According to Zuni legend she helped the warrior twins destroy the Cloud Swallower monster, and in Cherokee and Choctaw tradition she is considered an important hero who taught the People how to make pottery and brought them fire. In Hopi lore Spider Woman assumes the role of the creator of all living things, including humans. In the Navajo tradition, Spider Woman appears in many tales as a heroic helper and wise adviser who protects the innocent and restores harmony. She taught the Navajo People the art of weaving and agriculture. Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly in northeastern Arizona is considered the sacred, legendary home of Spider Woman.

Although in his 1980 novel PEOPLE OF DARKNESS Hillerman refers to Spider Woman as a star constellation (the Navajo equivalent to the Greek/Roman constellation of Aquarius), there is no indication that such a constellation indeed exists in Navajo tradition.

In 1952 the Navajo Tribal Council officially adopted the Great Seal of the Navajo Tribe, which was designed by John Claw Jr., an Arizona Navajo artist. The fifty arrowheads encircling the seal represent the tribe's protection within the fifty states. The lines of the inner circle represent a rainbow, as well as the sovereignty of the Navajo Nation. The opening at the top stands for the East, the place of the rising sun. Below the opening the sun shines on the four mountains sacred to the tribe: Blanca Peak in eastern Colorado, with white representing White Shell Woman in the East; Mount Taylor in New Mexico, with blue representing Turquoise Woman in the South; San Francisco Peaks in Arizona, with yellow representing Abalone Woman in the West; and Hesperus Mountain in western Colorado, with black representing Jet Woman in the North. In the center are a horse, a cow, and a sheep, the traditional livestock of the Navajo. The two corn plant at the bottom are symbolic of the sustainer of Navajo life. The yellow pollen at the tips of the corn plants is used in many sacred Navajo ceremonies.