Lullaby

1. Yeibechei song (proper noun):

a song performed by masked dancers near the end of the Nightway ceremony, a Navajo healing ritual

“She [. . .] faced east and listened to the wind and snow sing a high-pitched Yeibechei song.” (Page 43)

2. arroyo (noun):

a dry creek bed that fills with water during heavy rains and is commonly found in the American Southwest

“By the light of the snow she could see the dark outline of the big arroyo a few feet away.” (Page 43)

3. hogan (noun):

a domed structure traditionally built by Navajos to serve as their dwelling place

“Ayah remembered sleeping warm on cold windy nights, wrapped in her mother’s blankets on the hogan’s sandy floor.” (Page 44)

4. Navajo (adjective):

describing a people native to the southwestern US who now live primarily in Arizona and New Mexico

“It was back in the days before they hired Navajo women to go with them as interpreters.” (Page 45)

5. Canoncito (proper noun):

a community located in Sante Fe County, New Mexico; the former, Spanish name of a section of the Navajo reservation located in central New Mexico

“She had seen him at the children’s clinic at Canoncito about a month ago.” (Page 45)

6. black lava rock (noun):

extremely old rock found in the southwestern US that formed from cooled lava following volcanic eruptions

“She stayed up in the hills for the rest of the day, sitting on a black lava boulder in the sunshine where she could see for all miles around her.” (Page 46)

7. oil drum stove (noun):

a small, woodburning stove made from a repurposed metal oil container, or drum

“The fire she had built that morning in the oil drum stove had burnt out.” (Page 46)

8. BIA policeman (proper noun):

Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officer

“The doctors came back the next day and they brought a BIA policeman with them.” (Page 46)

9. sullenly (adverb):

performed in a manner that suggests gloominess or resentfulness

“She listened to Chato sullenly [. . .].” (Page 46)

10. luminous (adjective):

shining or glowing, especially amid darkness

“It snowed steadily and the luminous light from the snow gradually diminished into the darkness.” (Page 47)

11. Stetson hat (proper noun):

a large-brimmed felt hat first manufactured in the 1860s that became popular among white pioneers in the American West

“But this time he wasn’t waiting for her on the bottom step with his old Stetson hat pulled down and his shoulders hunched up in his long wool overcoat.” (Page 48)

12. venison (noun):

deer meat

“She was frightened by what she saw inside too: the strips of venison drying on a rope across the ceiling and the children jabbering excitedly in a language she did not know.” (Page 49)

13. adobe (adjective):

referring to a building material in which sundried bricks are made from heavy clay, or a building made from adobe bricks

“She did this because she had the blanket, and there would be no place for him except with her and the blanket in the old adobe barn near the arroyo.” (Page 49)

14. Cebolleta (proper noun):

a community located in west-central New Mexico, near the San Mateo Mountains

“They always slept there when they came to Cebolleta.” (Page 49)

15. ewes (plural noun):

female sheep

“She knew he did not like walking behind old ewes when for so many years he rode big quarter horses and worked with cattle.” (Page 50)

16. mesa (noun):

an area of elevated land that is flat on top and has steep sides, common in the southwestern US

“They walked away from the road and up the slope to the giant boulders that had tumbled down from the red sandrock mesa throughout the centuries of rainstorms and earth tremors.” (Page 50)

17. crystalline (adjective):

exceptionally clear

“The light was crystalline.” (Page 51)

18. Orion (proper noun):

a constellation of stars named after the powerful hunter in Greek mythology

“It had the strength of the stars in Orion, and its journey was endless.” (Page 51)