Geographic Reference

This relatively low elevation mountain is also the site of a census designation community. The mountain stands between First Mesa and Balakai Mesa, near Polacca Wash in Arizona. Not large enough to be considered a town, the location does include a Navajo Nation chapter house. The Navajo Nation government system consists of five agencies (Chinle, Crownpoint, Fort Defiance, Shiprock, and Tuba City) with several local chapters within each agency. Each chapter has an administrative meeting place known as the chapter house, where the community gathers to discuss a variety of issues concerning life on the reservation. A trading post, which seemingly no longer exists, was also once located in the area.

A 7,300 foot mountain peak that spans across the borders of the Apache and Navajo counties in Arizona. It sits to the southeast of Black Mesa and is important to the Navajo Blessingway ceremony. As opposed to the other Navajo (Diné) Chant Ways, which are used to effect a cure of a problem, the Blessingway (Hózhójí) is used to bless the "one sung over," to ensure good luck, good health, and blessings for everything that pertains to them. It is also thought of as being "for good hope." The Navajo also view Balakai Mesa as the feet of Pollen Mountain, when interpreted in human form.

Third Mesa is one of three peninsular mesas located on the Hopi reservation in Arizona. These mesas project like fingers from the southern part of Black Mesa, and Third Mesa is located furthest to the west. Approximately 15 miles long and .5 to 5 miles wide, it contains the villages of Kykotsmovi (New Oraibi), Old Oraibi, Hotevilla, and Bacavi.

Littlewater translates to Tó ‘Áłts’íísí in Navajo. Littlewater is a small tribal chapter of the Navajo Nation location near Crownpoint, New Mexico. The Navajo Nation government system consists of five agencies (Chinle, Crownpoint, Fort Defiance, Shiprock, and Tuba City) with several local chapters within each agency. Each chapter has an administrative meeting place known as the chapter house, where the community gathers to discuss a variety of issues concerning life on the reservation. In the dedication to The Dark Wind, Tony Hillerman thanks the people of Littlewater, and given the context and proximity of the other place names mentioned, he is most likely is referring to this tribal chapter.

Designated as a stream by the U.S. geological survey, this wash is a tributary of the larger Polacca Wash. It is located near First Mesa on the Hopi Reservation within Navajo County, Arizona.

Burnt Water, or Tó Díílidí in Navajo, is a sparsely populated area in Apache County, Arizona. This county has the most land designated to Native Reservations in the U.S. and includes the Navajo Nation Reservation, the Fort Apache Reservation, and the Zuni Reservation. A specific kind of Navajo woven rug has also been named after this place, which features bordered, geometric designs in pastel colors. There was a trading post in this location until 1983.

A shallow saline lake located about 50 miles south of Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico. The Zuni understand the lake to be their sacred mother, Ma’l Oyattsik’I or "Salt Woman," and the lake is also a sacred site for the Navajo, Apache, Laguna, Acoma, and Hopi peoples as well. Each of these groups make annual pilgrimages to the lake to conduct ceremonies and harvest salt used in rituals throughout the year. Because the site and the salt it provides is so significant, the lake and the network of pilgrimage trails surrounding it are considered neutral and protected, as the salt, the lake, and the ceremonies associated are believed to sustain the spiritual lifeways of the peoples of the region.

The Zuni Salt Lake has also been at the center of contemporary controversies over water and mineral rights, as utility companies continue to submit proposals for coal mining, water pumping, and infrastructure development that would all severely impact the sacred site as well as its connecting cultural landscapes and associated ecosystems. The Zuni Salt Lake Coalition, an alliance between tribal grassroots organizations and the Sierra Club, succeeded in getting the lake limited protection under the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, although the struggles to maintain the spiritual, cultural, and environmental integrity of the lake and its network of pilgrimage trails are ongoing.

The Colorado Chiquito is the Spanish name given to the “Little Colorado River”, a tributary of the Colorado River whose headwaters are in the White Mountains of Arizona. This river primarily drains into the Painted Desert region and the Mogollon Rim. The Little Colorado River is 315 miles in length and is perennial, getting strong year-round flows at its headwaters and intermittent flows elsewhere. This ecologically-rich area has historically been populated by the Apache, Diné, and Hopi peoples.

A dry river located in the Bisti/De-Na-Zin area of the Navajo Reservation in northwestern New Mexico. Although the exact location and the name of the wash could not be verified, it is safe to assume that the Nagasi Wash is located near the Nageezi trading post, north of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

The largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon, the southernmost state in the Pacific Northwest region. Portland is situated close to the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, with the Willamette River passing through the city as it flows north, the city is famous for the many historical and modern bridges that cross the river. The area surrounding Portland was inhabited by Upper Chinook Native peoples for centuries before the arrival of white settlers in the 1830s. The city was founded in 1845 and named after one of its founder’s hometown of Portland, Maine. Its strategic location at the crossroads of major pioneer routes and its access by river to the Pacific Ocean allowed the settlement to develop as a port town and a center for culture and commerce. Today, Portland is known for its high-tech industry, public parks, liberal politics, and many small breweries and coffee shops that give the city its unique local character.