Cultural Reference

The Black Rain Chant is likely a fictional reference to a Navajo ceremonial. This chant might refer to one performed as a recreation of the story about Coyote stealing fire to make the People warm and Frog needing to put out the fire with a black rain.

A Navajo ceremonial refers to a number of different ceremonies performed by a singer or medicine man (called a hataałii in Navajo). Most ceremonials are used to cure a particular problem. Navajo cures are targeted at body, mind, and spirit, calling on the patient, his kin, singer, and divine people to restore his harmony with the world. Before a singer (often a man), is called, a hand trembler, or ndilniihii (often a woman), will diagnose the source of illness. Through prayer, concentration, and sprinkling of sacred pollen, her hand will tremble and pinpoint the cause, which then determines the proper ceremonial cure. Then a singer who knows the proper ceremony is called and preparations for the ceremonial are set in motion.

There are nearly one hundred Navajo chants of varying range and intricacy. Originating from the Creation Story, they are so nuanced and complex that a singer learns only one or two ceremonials, or sings, over many years of apprenticeship. Ceremonies can last anywhere from one to nine days and can include chants, songs, prayers, lectures, dances, sweat baths, prayer sticks, and sand paintings. In order for a ceremony to be effective, everything must be done as prescribed in the legends.

Black God (Haashchʼééshzhiní), sometimes referred to as Darkness to Be One by Tony Hillerman, is the god of fire and creator of the stars in Navajo mythology. Not all accounts credit him with the creation of the constellations, but all credit him with the creation of fire and light as found in the stars. As one story goes, when the Black God entered the hogan the Holy People noticed Pleiades, the Hard Flint Boys, attached to his ankle. When asked why the constellation was there the Black God stomped his feet and the stars leaped up his leg until they reached his head. After he did this impressive act, the Black God was allowed to place all the other constellations in the sky. However, while he completed this task Coyote came along and also wanted to place stars; he grabbed a handful of stars and threw them in the sky. This is why there are named constellations and other random non-clustered stars in the night sky.

Big-game hunting is the hunting of large wild animals such as bear, lions, leopards, elk, moose, or bison. Big-game hunters often display the heads of their hunted animals on the walls.

A vernacular expression referring to one's assistance in facilitating the commission of a crime, even if only to cover it up.

In both biological and cultural terms, adaptation is a process of change during which an organism, an individual, or even a society alters over time. These changes are typically thought of as improvements that make the organism, individual, or society "better," or at least more efficient, at surviving its given environment.

A term meant to indicate inclusion within the history,traditions, and protocols of Academia, otherwise known as the university system of intellectual and cultural elites. At times, to be academic is to be considered progressive, even radical. At others, it is to be perceived as retroactive, reactive, and conservative .

An abbreviated summary of the main points of a long article or report, generally found at the beginning of the work. Increasingly, abstracts are also included in online search databases. An abstract can range from one to several paragraphs in length, and usually contains in some format: the motivation or justification for the research presented in the article, a problem statement that might include the scope of the project; the method(s) employed during research and analysis; the results of the research and analysis conducted, or the answer to the theoretical problem posed in the project; and finally, the conclusion, which indicates the future implications of the project's findings.

The release from guilt and associated punishment. Sometimes, but not always, associated with forgiveness.

A class offered for small groups of graduate students. Instead of conducting a lecture, the instructor facilitates an in-depth discussion that focuses on assigned readings or focused research topics. Because of the small number and advanced level of students involved, individual participation is an expectiation, both to demonstrate mastery of the subject at hand but also to hone critical thinking skills in an environment that encourages open discussion and debate.

In Tony Hillerman's 1970 Navajo detective novel THE BLESSING WAY, Greersen is a fictional anthropologist who wrote about skinwalkers and Navajo witchcraft. In the plotline of the novel, the character referred to as the Navajo Wolf or the Big Navajo used the information about Navajo Wolves from Greersen’s fictional book, CASE STUDIES IN NAVAJO ETHNOGRAPHIC ABERRATIONS, in order to impersonate a Navajo witch, otherwise known as a skinwalker.