Where do you find detective novels, Navajo culture, Skinwalkers, Hopi culture, New Mexico landscape beauty, humor and great reading in one place?
In a Tony Hillerman novel.
Tony Hillerman is my favorite author. I always look forward to his next book.
I love the way he writes. As he tells his story, he describes everything in such great detail that I feel like I know the places and the people.
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Fetching RSS feed... please stand byWhy does Tony Hillerman write about the Navajo?
From a PBS Interview
Author Tony Hillerman recently spoke to MYSTERY! about his interest in the Navajo, his writing career, and his thoughts about Skinwalkers the film.How did you get started writing mysteries?
I was on a convalescent furlough after World War II and got a job driving a truckload of oil field equipment from Oklahoma City to an old oil well on the Checkerboard Reservation... I was driving across the country near Crown Point where I encountered a group of Navajos... After I unloaded the stuff, I asked a rancher what was going on. He told me a couple of the Navajo Marines were back from the Pacific, and they were having a curing ceremony for them. Would they mind if I went? They said "No, if you stay sober and behave yourself." I was tremendously impressed by it. I thought that's a great way to welcome your men back from the war. I never forgot. That was 1945.
When I decided I wanted to be a novelist, I had been a newspaperman for years. I didn't know whether I could develop a plot; I didn't know if I could develop a character. I knew I could describe. I thought, I'll set it on a Navajo reservation so I'll have a good background. If they don't like the story, they can look at the state setting, you know? That's how I got started. The more I knew about [the Navajo], the better I liked them.
Read the article Click HERE
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Links
- Tony Hillerman
- You've supported the Leaphorn/Chee series over its long history, and I wanted to write you a behind-the-scenes note by way of thanks. I thought you might like to know th...
- The Unofficial Tony Hillerman Homepage
- Welcome to Hillerman country!(The Unofficial Tony Hillerman Homepage) Map, Photos, Biography, Address, Awards, Books, Criticism, Profiles, and Interviews, Links.
- Hillerman-Interview | PBS
- Mystery! American Mystery! Specials . Navajoland
- Mystery! American Mystery! Specials . Navajoland .
- Resources | PBS More information about the topics covered on this site, including Tony Hillerman, the Southwest and the Navajo.
Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn
Author Tony Hillerman recently spoke to MYSTERY! about his interest in the Navajo and his thoughts about Skinwalkers the film.
Believe it or not, Joe Leaphorn was based on a Hutchinson County Texas sheriff that I met when I was a greenhorn police reporter in the Texas panhandle. I was very much impressed by this guy. He was smart, and he was humane. He knew where the law began and where common sense ended. I needed a Navajo policeman as a minor character in the first book I wrote. I intended him to be somebody that my main character would get information from, so I used this Texas sheriff, gave him a Navajo accent, and made him knowledgeable about Navajo ways, as much as I knew about them then. When I had to rewrite the book to get it published, I had kind of fallen in love with the guy, and I beefed up his role. Chee came along because I needed a young guy that wasn't as well educated and sophisticated as Leaphorn was. I had been teaching at the University of New Mexico, and I sort of melded together about 14 different young fellows and made Chee out of them.
Skinwalkers PBS Video
Three murders have stumped Officer Chee (Adam Beach) and Lieutenant Leaphorn (Wes Studi) two cops on separate reservations in Utah. While the crimes appear to be random there is also suspicion that "S Dubs" or skinwalkers are involved. These skinwalkers are a Native American legend concerning the spirits of the dead seeking revenge on the living. Chee and Leaphorn work together to find that these crimes lead to one suspect. This special edition of the PBS series MYSTERY! was directed by Chris Eyre (SMOKE SIGNALS) and contains many of the themes in Eyre's sophomore effort SKINS. Skinwalkers on NPR
- Skin Walkers
- All Things Considered, November 22, 2002 · The first American work in the 22-year history of Mystery!" series is an adaptation of Tony Hillerman's "Skinwalkers." "Skinwalkers" is one of 13 Hillerman mysteries featuring Native American detectives Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police. Laura Sydell has a report.
Tony Hillerman Jim Chee Series
Tony Hillerman Joe Leaphorn Series
Hillerman Films
An Amazon review writes:
Overall, I rate "A Thief of Time" between the awful "Skinwalkers" and the rather better, more coherent, "Coyote Waits".
The Dark Wind
Filmed on location, The Dark Wind brings to life t more...0 points
Mystery! Coyote Waits
Two tribal cops uncover a plot involving a lost fo more...0 points
Tony HIllerman Audio
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- The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman
- I like the way Hillerman writes about the land, as in the wrote above. This was a fun read. You migh...
- The Joe Leaphorn Mysteries, by Tony Hillerman
- Murder and mayhem join with ghosts and witchcraft to challenge Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Pol...
- “Tony Hillerman's Landscape”
- Anne Hillerman and Don Strel don't do your ordinary book signing event, just talking a bit and then...
Learn more about the Navajo
Once obtained it can take you anywhere
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Skeleton Man
by Tony Hillerman
Navajo Dance
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Navajo Weaving
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- Pueblo Culture - This site is dedicated to the rich cultures of the Pueblo Indians who live in New Mexico. T
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Trio members Pura Fe (Tuscarora), Soni Moreno (Apache, Yaqui, Mayan) and Jennifer Kresiberg (Tuscarora) create their own sound by blending their strong traditional roots and personal contemporary styles.
Upon the group's conception 15 years ago, they created a new genre of American Indian music embracing a wide range of indigenous music-from Southern choral singing to pre-Columbian music.
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- Lee_Emory Lee_Emory Aug 22, 2008 @ 11:36 am
- This is a great lens. You have a lot of really interesting information on Tony Hillerman and his books. Well done! I'd love for you to visit my lens and say hi when you get the chance.
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- Barkely Barkely Aug 12, 2007 @ 8:45 am
- Very nice lens. Thanks for adding it to Fresh Squid.
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- TexasSkye TexasSkye Jul 30, 2007 @ 12:07 pm
- Wonderful lens. I have been a long time fan of Tony Hillerman and recently visited Navajoland. It was incredible, seeing all the places he writes about. I've posted a few of the pictures I took there on my Navajo Art lens. 5 *stars* and a lensroll.
Skye
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- CrypticFragments CrypticFragments Feb 20, 2007 @ 12:39 am
- that is one impressive lens!
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What You'll Find Here
- My Top Lenses
- Why does Tony Hillerman write about the Navajo?
- Are you a Hillerman fan?
- The Shape Shifter
- Links
- Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn
- Skinwalkers PBS Video
- Skinwalkers on NPR
- Tony Hillerman Jim Chee Series
- Tony Hillerman Joe Leaphorn Series
- Hillerman Films
- Tony HIllerman Audio
- More Books by Tony Hillerman
- Talk about Tony Hillerman
- What's your favorite Hillerman book or character?
- Learn more about the Navajo
- Skeleton Man
- Navajo Dance
- Help Me Create a BookList about the Navajo
- Learn More About the Hopi
- Navajo Video
- Navajo Weaving
- Shop for items with Navajo designs
- Hopi Videos
- Shop for items with Hopi designs
- Other Lenses about Southwest Native American Culture
- More Supporting Info
- Music of the Navajo and Hopi
- Hopi Photos
- Hopi bookmarks
- Navajo Photos
- Navajo bookmarks
- Please leave your thoughts and comments here!
- New Mexico, Land of Enchantment
- Visit New Mexico
































































