Cultural Reference

A decorative or ceremonial head covering that can be made of leather, wood, cloth, and other materials including gold. Headdresses are often decorated by feathers, beading, and sometimes jewels. Headdresses are found in many cultures in many regions throughout the world and include bridal veils, the Pope's hat, crowns, and warbonnets. In some cases, headdresses are a sign of power, potency, and virility; in others, they are a sign of modesty, decorum, and maturity.

A two-person strategy game invented by Colin Vout. Two or more cars per player are placed on a 3 x 3 or larger gridded board. Each player takes turns moving one car one space either veritcally or horizontally, with the rule that two cars cannot occupy one space. The player whose cars leave the board on a forward move, or who efefctively block the opponent's cars, wins.

A sheepherder protects and manages a group of sheep, especially during open grazing. In the 1500s, sheep were first brought by the Spanish to what later became known as the U.S. Southwest. By the 1700s, sheep herding had been adopted by the Navajo, and sheep become very important to the Navajo way of life. Sheep's wool is used to weave textiles, such as rugs and blankets, and the meat is a staple of the diet.

Assault is a criminal charge that stems from a person knowingly threatening harm against another person. Assault can become aggravated assault when a weapon is involved or if the threat is intended to do more than scare the victim. An example of aggravated assault without a weapon, for example, occurs when an individual threatens a victim with the intent of robbing him or her. Aggravated assault is considered a felony.

The essential but non-physical aspect of a living being, that which leaves the body after death. Depending on the context, "soul" can refer to the spirit, personality, consciousness, mind, or entirety of the being ("another poor soul," as Leaphorn refers to Horseman in Tony Hillerman's 1970 Navajo detective novel THE BLESSINGWAY).

One of seven Native American tribes that share the Apachean, or Southern Athabascan, language. The Jicarilla Apache originated in Canada's Mackenzie Basin. Archaeological and ethnological evidence suggest that by the year 1400 the original Apache group had migrated south and began to separate into a few different tribes. By the time the Spanish arrived in the Americas, the Jicarilla people were settled in a large territory stretching over the Chama Valley of present-day New Mexico and eastward into Oklahoma. The Jicarilla Apache, through centuries of struggles over land against Spanish and then U.S. forces, have lost most of their territory. Today their reservation, which lies close to the eastern part of the Navajo Nation Reservation, occupies a small portion of northcentral New Mexico. In ongoing efforts to address the problems associated with loss of land, resources, and cultural heritage, such as poverty and crime, the Jicarilla Reservation government invests in retail and tourist enterprises, emphasizing active conservation of traditional arts, beliefs, and rituals.

The Hard Flint Boys, also known as Beesh Ashiike in Navajo, as well as the Blue Flint Boys, comprise the seven stars in the Pleiades constellation. In Navajo mythology, the Hard Flint Boys were often underfoot and causing mischief in the presence of Black God. Black God would stamp his foot, causing the Flint Boys to clamber up to Black God’s shoulder and eventually his forehead, otherwise known as the night sky, where they eventually remained, thus demonstrating Black God's celestial powers.

The Hard Flint Boys assist the Navajo in regulating their planting schedule. When they disappear from the evening sky in mid-Spring, the Navajo know that it is time to begin planting.

A term referring to a speech sound that is generated in the throat. English has very few such throat-originated articulations, while other languages, like Arabic,Welsh, and many Native American languages (including Navajo), are rich in gutturals.

A six-stringed, wood-bodied instrument with a fretted neck. The basic guitar, which emerged from the confluence of Islamic and Greco-Roman musical traditions in the Iberian penninsula, developed into different types derived from a variety of cultural traditions, such as flamenco, mariachi, and eventually styles like American folk and rock-and-roll, each of which augmented the traditional guitar design to accommodate new playing pracitices, aesthetics, and desired sounds.

A student in graduate school who receives reimbursement for working to support individual faculty research, departmental functions, or university offices. Typically, graduate assistants can work as instructors, researchers, and assistants to professors, among other tasks, often completing menial work such as facilitating course logistics, while also assisting in lecturing and grading class assignments. It is the belief that the on-the-job experience garnered by a graduate assistant will further her or his career in some fashion.