Cultural Reference

The chief law enforcement agency, also known as GPD, responsible for policing the city of Gallup, New Mexico. The GPD's mission statement is as follows: "The mission of the Gallup Police Department is to deliver law enforcement and crime prevention services for the citizens and visitors of our city. We will strive to enhance the safety of our neighborhoods by apprehending those who commit criminal acts, by developing partnerships to prevent, reduce or eliminate community concerns, and assist in maintaining a real sense of security that improves the overall quality of life for our community."

In his Tony Hillerman 1980 Navajo detective novel PEOPLE OF DARKNESS, he mentions the Hopi Peach Tree clan, a kinship group associated with the area around Moenkopi, Arizona. Although peach trees have been cultivated by the Hopi for generations, a clan associated seems to have been invented by Hillerman to further the narrative of his novel.

A clan composes an interrelated social group whose connections derive from parentage and kinship affiliation, and is common to Indigenous social structures. Clan configurations develop and are expressed uniquely in different Native American groups, and each tribe is comprised of numerous clans. Clan names and identities often originate in the natural environment of the tribal nation's homeland, and reference place names, fauna and flora, as well as significant natural phenomenon. Clans structures entail significant mentoring and obligations to the children of one's sisters or brothers.

Mentioned in Tony Hillerman's 1970 Navajo detective novel THE BLESSING WAY in regards to a totem that can fend off ghost sickness, the Reed Clan, known as Lók’aa’ Dine’é in Navajo, is one of more than forty family lineages, or clans, that comprise the complicated ancestral network of Navajo ancestry.

In Native American social structures, a clan is an interrelated social group whose connections derive from parentage as well as kinship. Clan configurations develop and are expressed uniquely in different indigenous groups, and each tribe is comprised of numerous various clans. Clan names often originate in the natural environment of the tribe’s homeland, and refer to place names, fauna and flora, or significant natural phenomena.

The Salt Water Clan, Tódík’ǫ́zhí in Navajo, is a Navajo clan mentioned in several of Tony Hillerman's Navajo detective novels, with land imagined to be somewhere in the vicinity of Toadlena.

The Navajo, or Diné, are comprised of more than forty family lineages, or clans, that claim common ancestry.

Chowilawu, which means "terrible power," is a Hopi kachina that is considered invisible and so is not often represented by kachina dolls or seen in public. This kachina only appears just before the Niman Kachina Dance when a boy is initiated into the Pawamu fraternity.

In the Hopi tradition, Dung Carrier, or Kwiranonoa, is one of many runner kachinas (Wawarus) that challenge men to races. If the men are caught, Dung Carrier smears his victims' faces with human excrement. Often, the Dung Carrier appears as a female kachina (Kachin-mana), although they are still personated by men. Dung Carriers can appear singly or paired in the kachina parade at the Powamu Ceremony and in mixed dances of spring and early summer. Sometimes between 15 to 30 Dung Carrier kachinas may appear in one-day ceremonies that can occur any time of year.

A Navajo clan mentioned in several of Tony Hillerman's Navajo detective novels, with land near the fictional No Agua Wash, which may be imagined to be somewhere in the vicinity of Teec Nos Pos, Arizona. Because the salt cedar, or tamarisk, is an invasive species introduced into the Southwestern US at the turn of the 20th century for the purpose of erosion control along river banks, it is highly unlikely that the Diné would have named one of their kinship groups after a plant that didn't appear in their territory until after Euroamerican settlement.

The Navajo, or Diné, are comprised of more than forty family lineages, or clans, that claim common ancestry.

A cultural mythology consists of the collected body of narratives that form the base for a world view, philosophy, and religion of a particular culture. Such narratives, or myths, tell stories that often mix supernatural or legendary beings and events with recorded historical ones to allegorically explain the origin, shared history, customs, and religious practices of a given group of people. These stories are passed on through the generations, providing a unifying cultural frame of reference, as well as a basis for social structures, spiritual beliefs, moral standards, and behavior models.

The Hopi people of what is today northern Arizona have a distinct belief system that is based on an origin story and provides the basis for spiritual traditions and the moral codes of social life. In some versions of the Hopi belief system, it is said that the ancestors of the Hopi traveled through three caves into the fourth world, Earth. In each cave they found different important portions of their religion and lifeways. In the first cave they found agriculture, in the second manufacturing, and in the third spirituality. They emerged into the fourth world in the Grand Canyon, which was covered in water. This water was cleared by deities, and the Hopi followed a path set for them by Maasaw, god of death, into the land where they now reside.

Similar to many people, with living traditions that are thousands of years old, Hopi can be very tradition-oriented, incorporating a deep ceremonialism into their lifeways. This practice entails a faith that if their ceremonials are performed with precision, regularity, and faith,the natural cycle will bring rain and all living beings will prosper. Without the necessary observances and living practice of their traditions, the consequence could be a lack of rain and the destruction of the fourth (current) world.

There is a specific Hopi calendar that is based on the splitting of the year and the world into halves that represent opposites such as day/night, summer/winter, and birth/death. These opposing forces define the belief in the coexisting of mirroring worlds. The progression of seasons in the upper (visible) world is reversed in the lower world, where people are reborn after death and occupy a different, invisible realm. The opposing forces also dictate the appearance of the kachinas (and the masked dancers who represent them) in ceremonies throughout the year. For the most part, the calendar is the same across the major villages, but small differences exist with regards to some rituals.

The werewolf is a mythological creature in common in folklore traditions around the world, and the term generally refers to a man who can change form at night and turn into a wolf. Werewolves are considered evil and dangerous, as they are believed to bite, injure, and kill people and livestock. Hillerman borrows the term werewolf to refer to a Navajo wolf (also known as skinwalker), a member of the community who is believed to engage in black magic that is associated with shapeshifting, manipulating supernatural forces, and harming people.

A term referencing influence from or connection to the the sovereign state known as Korea, which was divided into the countries of North and South Korea in the early stages of the Cold War, which emerged on the global stage as World War II was waning. The Korean people are historically based on the Korean penninsula and Manchuria, and today many live in Pacific Rim countries, with he largest population of ethnic Koreans outside of Korea living in New York and Los Angeles. The result is a well-established Korean diaspora, which finds Korean language, pop culture, technology, and art ever present as global influences.