Cultural Reference

Revenge is a way of getting back at someone and inflicting pain as retribution for insult or injury. The group Anonymous has done this on a global scale by crashing web sites associated with ISIS and by releasing the personal information of police officers accused of excessive force.

A giant creature from Zuni mythology that ate people, dead souls and thunderclouds beckoning rain. In the mythology, this monster devoured all the clouds that passed by and caused a drought. As the Zuni were farmers, this lack of rain was detrimental. In order to defeat Cloud-Swallower, the hero twins, Ahayuta and Matsilema, joined forces with Grandmother Spider. Grandmother Spider wove a web around the Cloud-Swallower’s eyes, which blinded the monster. This allowed the hero twins to sneak up and slay the monster.

In The Boy Who Made Dragonfly, the people of the Zuni village feared and despised Cloud-Swallower because whenever he saw a cloud pass overhead, he reached up and caught it and squeezed all the moisture into his mouth.

As deputy to Sayatasha, the Rain God of the North, and one of the members of the Zuni Council of the Gods, Hututu is often associated with the gentle, misting rains of the south. The Council of the Gods is a group of spiritual figures, personified by carefully trained Zuni dancers during the Shalako winter ceremonies. The council’s figures wear large and colorful masks that can appear intimidating, but in fact are perceived as sacred spiritual guides and protectors. If the man personifying Hututu serves in tribal government, it is expected that he will refrain from all arguments, controversy and disputes.

According to Zuni cosmology, the Ice God lives in the Sacred Mountains and is responsible for the snow that will provide spring melt for crop growth. However, the warm mists from the Valley of Hot Waters drives the cold breath of the Ice God away, and the climate is pleasantly temperate for growing an abundance of corn. One year the Ice God fell asleep and no snow fell all winter. Bear, deer and hummingbird attempted to rouse the Ice God but were not successful. Spider managed to wake the Ice God. Upon rising, the Ice God rubbed his eyes and snow began to fall. When spider spins a web into the distant clouds, winter is sure to follow.

The fleshy parts of a hunted deer that can be consumed by humans. The term can sometimes also be applied to the meat of other game animals from the deer family, such as elk or moose.

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.

The Yellowwood Clan was one of the smaller Zuni clans, having only one household affiliation through the 1900s. The clan became extinct in 1975 due to the death of its last surviving member. The Yellowwood clan are also known as the evergreen-oak people and are called Ta'hluptsikwe in the Zuni or A'shiwi lanuage.

In traditional societies, a clan comprises an interrelated social group whose connections derive from parentage and kinship affiliations. Clan configurations develop and are expressed uniquely in different groups. In groups indigenous to the Americas, each unique group can be comprised of numerous clans. Clan names and identities often originate from the natural environment of the the group's homeland or seasonal hunting and camping grounds, and reference place names, fauna, and flora, as well as significant natural phenomena.

In the Zuni tradition, the Tobacco Clan is known as Anakwe, but tobacco clans can also be found among the Hopi, Tewa, and Diné societies as well. In Zuni society, the Koyemshi, ritual trickster figures, are chosen from four clans in annual rotation, including the Tobacco Clan. For the Hopi, the Tobacco Clan is, along with the Bear and Corn Clans, one of the three leading clans. During ceremonies, the Bear Clan brings sacred medicine, the Corn Clan brings corn, and the Tobacco Clan supplies the tobacco. Clan knowledge is sacred and protected, and particular stories are the proprietary accounts of particular clans or fraternities. It would be prohibited for the Badger Clan, for instance, to relay information regarding the symbolism and practices of the Tobacco Clan.

A doe is a female deer or goat. Prized for its soft comfort and warmth, doeskin is the rendered hide of the adult female deer worn for dress, stockings or moccasins. Dresses and jackets often include fringed decoration of doeskin, deerskin or buckskin and the hide could be sun-bleached to a creamy ivory.

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 Badger Clan is one of the clans that make up the Hopi system of kinship. The name is probably a reference to the mammal that is commonly found across Southwestern parts of the U.S. and is considered one of the revered hunting animals according to Hopi lore. A clan by the same name also exists in the Zuni Pueblo.

A nomad has no place he or she calls home, and lives a pastoral lifestyle, moving with their community from one location to another. Nomadism is associated with a hunting and gathering lifestyle. This mobility is essential for communities living in areas with scarce resources like icy tundras.