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55-515: Two anthropology professors from New Mexico plan a summer research trip on the Navajo Reservation. Bergen McKee meets his college friend Joe Leaphorn, now a police officer, there. McKee's interest is the Navajo witches and the role they play in the culture. He learns of one on his first day of interviews, who unexpectedly visits his campsite in the night, beginning a saga of peril for him. Leaphorn has

110-475: A Navajo Enemy Way ceremony to deal with depredation of their livestock, which Joe Leaphorn attends. He meets Billy Nez, brother to Luis Horseman. Billy found the hat used as a symbolic scalp of the troublesome witch. The reason the witch is thought to be a stranger, Leaphorn learns, is that the Tsosie boys had found his camp, parked too far from water, and a local man would have known where the water was. Leaphorn finds

165-542: A Witch, but not Guilty in manner and Forme as Shee stands Endicted." Thus Mattson was found guilty of having the reputation of a witch, but not guilty of bewitching animals. Neither woman was convicted of witchcraft. "Hence the superstitious got enough to have their thinking affirmed. Those less superstitious, and justice minded, got what they wanted." The accused were released on their husbands' posting recognizance bonds of 50 pounds and promising six months' good behavior. A popular legend tells of William Penn dismissing

220-747: A diverse array of beliefs about witchcraft. Indigenous communities such as the Cherokee , Hopi , the Navajo among others, included in their folklore and beliefs malevolent figures who could harm their communities, often resulting in severe punishments, including death. These communities also recognized the role of medicine people as healers and protectors against these malevolent forces. The term witchcraft arrived with European colonists, along with European views on witchcraft . This term would be adopted by many Indigenous communities for those beliefs about harmful supernatural powers. In colonial America and

275-412: A federal facility, hoping to sell his information for a huge fee. George, the Navajo from Los Angeles, and Eddie worked for him, keeping people away from his work. From the federal perspective, George and Eddie did not exist; Dr. Canfield and Hall were killed in a car accident, which injured Ellen Leon and McKee. Still recovering, McKee gets a long note from Ellen Leon. The novel introduces Joe Leaphorn as

330-498: A group of Navajos on horseback and in face paint and feathers in Crownpoint, N.M. They had been holding a Navajo Enemy Way ceremony for a soldier, a curing ritual that exorcises all traces of the enemy from those returning from battle. Mr. Hillerman had himself just returned from the war after a long convalescence ... He was so moved by the ceremony and so stirred by the rugged landscape that he resolved to live there. The experience became

385-608: A joint field trip in the Lukachukai Mountains , the canyons of the west slope. They expect to meet Ellen Leon in Many Ruins Canyon, as she seeks her fiancé, Dr. Hall. In the meantime, McKee also begins interviewing reservation residents, hoping to learn details about the Navajo witch. From Horseman's aunt Old Woman Gray Rocks he learns the Navajo Wolf is believed to be an outsider from another place. The Tsosie family hosts

440-429: A murdered young man as his case, which intertwines with McKee's encounters with a true Navajo witch. Anthropologist and professor Bergen McKee comes to the Navajo Reservation to research tales of witches and visit his college friend, Joe Leaphorn. Leaphorn is a Navajo Tribal Police lieutenant. A young man, Luis Horseman, thinking he had killed a man in a fight, drops out of sight. His victim survives, so Leaphorn spreads

495-549: A neighbor Gertro (a.k.a. Yeshro) Jacobsson, wife of Hendrick Jacobsson, were brought by the Attorney General before a grand jury of 21 men overseen by the colony's proprietor, William Penn . The grand jury returned a true bill indictment that afternoon, and the cases proceeded to trial. A petit jury of twelve men was selected by Penn and an interpreter was appointed for the Finnish women, who did not speak English. Penn barred

550-419: A plan in motion for the return of Eddie and George. Miss Leon exits one way, while McKee uses old hand and footholds to reach the level where Eddie is. Eddie shoots Ellen, and then seeks McKee. Eddie falls over the cliff edge into the crevasse, dying from the fall. McKee tends Ellen and seeks Hall for help. He follows electric cable to a side canyon. The Navajo shoots him in the back from a distance. McKee cuts off

605-631: A scary place that held spirits in its dark forests. When the colony's English settlers first came to the New World , they believed strongly in the devil's power. They believed Virginia Indians to be devil worshippers and were accusing one another of practicing witchcraft. Witchcraft in Virginia was less common compared to neighboring states, but nevertheless, evidence still shows that over two dozen trials were still taken place between 1626 and 1720. Judges were even administering water tests in order to find out if

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660-557: A secondary character. Anthropologist Bergen McKee draws Leaphorn into the story as an old friend and colleague with whom he consults on Navajo witchcraft culture. This story has a strong theme of the Navajo philosophy of keeping peace in life, setting priorities and living by them, against the greed for money represented by Hall and his two hired helpers. Hall is driven to make a million dollars (a lot of money in 1970) and turns to illegal means to do it, hiring one notable criminal (George) and his lesser known ally, both eager for their share if

715-1028: A trial in Philadelphia . These are the only known trials for witchcraft in Pennsylvania history. Some of Mattson's neighbors claimed that she had bewitched cattle. Charges of practicing witchcraft were brought before the Pennsylvania Provincial Council in February 1683 (under Julian calendar ). This occurred nineteen years after the Swedish territory became a British common law colony and subject to English Witchcraft Act 1603 . Accused by several neighbors, as well as her own daughter in law, Mattson's alleged crimes included making threats against neighbors, causing cows to give little milk, bewitching and killing livestock and appearing to witnesses in spectral form . On February 27, 1683, charges against Mattson and

770-623: A variety of towns across the province: Salem Village (now Danvers ), Salem Town , Ipswich , and Andover . The best-known trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. In Maryland, there

825-496: A witch is a person who kills close family relatives in order to prolong his or her own life by four years. By killing, I mean causing through occult means an unnatural death, such as stillbirth, infants dying of ordinary illnesses, or healthy adults suffering from strange illnesses. Witches are also the occult cause of unusual circumstances, such as hailstorms on a sunny day, extreme drought, or people suffering bad fortune. There are several varieties of those considered to be witches by

880-481: Is a legend of Moll Dyer , who escaped a fire set by fellow colonists only to die of exposure in December 1697. The historical record of Dyer is scant as all official records were burned in a courthouse fire, though the county courthouse has on display the rock where her frozen body was found. A letter from a colonist of the period describes her in most unfavourable terms. A local road is named after Dyer, where her homestead

935-424: Is a substance made from powdered corpses. The powder is used by witches to curse their victims. Traditional Navajos usually hesitate to discuss things like witches and witchcraft with non-Navajos. As with other traditional cultures, the term "witch" is never used for healers or others who help the community with their ceremonies and spiritual work. Witchcraft was a pressing issue during the early colonization of

990-534: The Navajo . The most common variety seen in horror fiction by non-Navajo people is the yee naaldlooshii (a type of 'ánti'įhnii ), known in English as the skin-walker . They are believed to take the forms of animals in order to travel in secret and do harm to the innocent. In the Navajo language , yee naaldlooshii translates to 'with it, he goes on all fours'. Corpse powder or corpse poison ( Navajo : áńt'į́ , literally 'witchery' or 'harming')

1045-498: The 19th century in some regions, such as Tennessee, where prosecutions occurred as late as 1833. The influences on Witchcraft in Latin America impacted North American views both directly and indirectly, including the diaspora of African witchcraft beliefs through the slave trade and suppressed Indigenous cultures adopting the term for their own cultural practices. Neopagan witchcraft practices such as Wicca then emerged in

1100-533: The Cherokee witch lives in the ever-fearful grip of being publicly exposed. Cherokee healers have "doctored" dogs so the dogs can help them detect witches. As in the other tribes that have agreed to talk to anthropologists , witchcraft has been traditionally punished by death in Cherokee communities. In 1824 the western Cherokee passed new laws "forbidding the wanton killing of suspected witches", however, this attitude and retribution appears to have continued at

1155-457: The Chickasaw." Witches in these communities are defined in contrast to medicine people , who are the healers and ceremonial leaders, and who provide protection against witches and witchcraft. The Cherokee have traditional monster stories of witches, such as Raven Mocker ( Kâ'lanû Ahkyeli'skï ) and Spearfinger ( U'tlun'ta ), both known as dangerous killers. Among the Cherokee ,

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1210-820: The Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Mysteries , author Laurance D. Linford has listed the following 40 geographical locations, real and fictional, mentioned in The Blessing Way . Kirkus Reviews wrote that "authentic anthropological details; the self-effacing courage of McKee; and a particularly exciting entrapment in the canyons of this no white man's land make this an unqualified success." Witch (Navajo) The views of witchcraft in North America have evolved through an interlinking history of cultural beliefs and interactions. These forces contribute to complex and evolving views of witchcraft . Today, North America hosts

1265-510: The Salem witch trials. She was blamed for the teenagers' death, and eleven of her neighbors accused her of poising their breast milk, leading babies to get sick. She was also accused of animal and livestock deaths. Jane "Naut" Kanniff is thought to be the subject of New York's last witchcraft trial, in 1816. She was accused as a witch for wearing colorful clothing, she had a black cat and a talking parrot, and often collected herbs to soothe aliments. She

1320-569: The United States . Witchcraft in the colonies was the alleged power one had to use supernatural abilities to influence people or events. In these early times, witchcraft was used to explain events that otherwise could not be understood. People were killed over these accusations when in reality they held no real merit at all. Though the Salem Witch Trials is the most commonly known case of witchcraft, it happened all British North America . It

1375-543: The United States, views of witchcraft were further shaped by European colonists. The infamous Salem witch trials in Massachusetts, along with other witch hunts in places like Maryland and Pennsylvania, exemplified European and Christian fear and hysteria surrounding accusations of witchcraft. These trials led to the execution of numerous individuals accused of practicing witchcraft. Despite changes in laws and perspectives over time, accusations of witchcraft persisted into

1430-485: The accused were actually guilty or not. Records even show that the last witchcraft trial that took place on the mainland colonies happened in Virginia around 1730. Since then, the trials that occurred in Virginia are often forgotten as a key aspect of witchcraft in Colonial America. Seldom Disappointed Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir is the 2001 autobiography of author Tony Hillerman . The title reflects

1485-416: The accused were being stripped of even their basic rights that should have been granted under English law. The witchcraft that took place in early colonial America had an immense influence in law at the time and even today. Alse Young was the first person on record to be executed for witchcraft in Colonial America. She was a resident of Windsor, Connecticut , and was hanged at a meetinghouse. Alse would be

1540-536: The attitude that he learned as a child living on a farm in Oklahoma ; if one learns not to have unrealistic expectations, one will often be pleasantly surprised and seldom disappointed. The work was well received, with the New York Times Book Review stating that Hillerman "is an expert at knowing what to leave out, and at making what he leaves in cut to the bone without seeming overwrought", and further that

1595-407: The basis for The Blessing Way (1970) ... He spent three years writing the novel and sent the manuscript to Joan Kahn, a respected mystery editor at Harper & Row, now HarperCollins. She published it after he complied with her suggestion—that he expand the role of a secondary character, the Navajo policeman Joe Leaphorn. In his 2011 book Tony Hillerman's Navajoland: Hideouts, Haunts, and Havens in

1650-444: The campsite, to listen. A man wearing a wolf skin and holding an automatic weapon walks into the campsite, then into the tent to read papers there. He calls out McKee's name but McKee keeps silent and the man walks away, having left McKee's vehicle inoperable. During the night, McKee slips on the rocks, injuring his right hand painfully. In the morning, McKee looks for Miss Leon so they can both drive out quickly. They drive away, escaping

1705-475: The charges against Mattson by affirming her legal right to fly on a broomstick over Philadelphia, saying "Well, I know of no law against it." The record fails to show any such commentary, but the story probably reflects popular views of Penn's socially progressive Quaker values. Accusations of witchcraft and wizardry led to the prosecution of a man in Tennessee as recently as 1833. Colonial Virginia seemed

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1760-421: The community trying to figure out who might be a witch, and who might have caused the death or other misfortune. They are called popwaqt , the plural of powaqa , "witch" or "sorcerer." They are unequivocally evil, casting spells, causing illness, killing babies, and destroying the life cycle. They practice powaqqatsi , the "life of evil sorcery." The Hopis call them kwitavi , "shit people." ....

1815-590: The first of many more who were condemned in Colonial America for witchcraft. There was a woman who claimed to have seen her dead baby in a dream and was accused of witchcraft and ultimately killed. Connecticut's witch trials were among the first trials in New England , but often get overlooked by the more numerous and publicized trials that occurred after. Connecticut had over 40 witchcraft cases which resulted in 16 executions. Witchcraft in early colonial America

1870-464: The insulation and uses it to make a catapult with a sapling, to throw a sharpened pine stake, right into George the Navajo, whose gun sight obscured his view. McKee picks up the Navajo's skin and gun, walking for help. Billy Nez appears with his rifle, and tells McKee to stop. McKee tells him that he is a teacher. They reach Hall at his truck, tell him about Ellen. Hall tells Billy Nez to give up his rifle, while McKee says not to do that. Leaphorn arrives at

1925-431: The medicine people are seen as a "priesthood caste", known to work together in groups to help the community. As in other Native communities, they are defined as the opposite of witches, who are seen as criminals, In contrast, the traditional Cherokee witch lives alone, eats alone (fearful of being poisoned), and commits heinous acts alone, surreptitiously under the cover of darkness. Jealous and hypersensitive by nature,

1980-522: The mid-20th century. Native American communities such as the Cherokee , Chickasaw , Creek , Delaware , Hopi , Miami , Natchez , Navajo and Seneca have historically defined witches as evil-doers who harm their own communities. Witches are traditionally seen as criminals, and witchcraft as a crime punishable by death, if nothing else as a last resort. While some communities have passed laws specifically outlawing vigilante killings, traditional views of witches and witchcraft have largely remained

2035-470: The most famous in British North America and took place in the coastal settlements near Salem, Massachusetts . Prior to the witch trials, nearly three hundred men and women had been suspected of partaking in witchcraft, and nineteen of these people were hanged, and one was "pressed to death". Despite being generally known as the Salem witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in

2090-426: The pair to an Anasazi pueblo, where his right hand is treated. Eddie, partner to the Navajo, is there, also armed. Left alone in the pueblo, Miss Leon apologizes to McKee for misunderstanding their situation. Waking in the night, McKee finds a Hopi Kachina in the petroglyph on the wall. He begins digging for the escape exit that Hopis always had to keep from being boxed-in by their enemies. He finds it, and sets

2145-531: The same into 20th century, and through to the present among traditionals. Alan Kilpatrick writes in The Night Has a Naked Soul: Witchcraft and Sorcery Among the Western Cherokee "A cursory survey of the ethnohistorical literature indicates that death was the standard punishment among Native American societies. Numerous eighteenth- and nineteenth-century accounts of random witch killings are recorded among

2200-537: The same rate in both the Cherokee and Creek communities throughout the 19th Century. In the twentieth century, many communities responded to allegations of witchcraft with mental health treatment, including medication. But despite changes in laws and perspectives, Kilpatrick (quoting Shimony (1989)) wrote in 1998 that one does still occasionally read about "the demise of a suspected witch in Native American communities" but that most of these deaths take place "only while

2255-424: The scene, telling Billy Nez to hold onto his rifle. Leaphorn already found Ellen Leon, seeing the smoky signal fire she set. McKee wakes in the hospital two days later, confessing his two killings to Leaphorn. Ellen Leon recovers from her wounds. Joe Leaphorn tells McKee that Hall killed himself right in front of him, after McKee fainted from loss of blood. Hall was collecting radar data about missiles under test from

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2310-506: The scheme had worked. In his autobiography , Hillerman explained that McKee was the main character, and initially Leaphorn had a minor role. However, at the advice of his editors, he expanded Leaphorn's role. Marilyn Stasio described the history behind The Blessing Way in The New York Times : In the late 1960s, [Hillerman] said, he began to “practice” writing by working on a mystery, drawing on an earlier encounter he had had with

2365-422: The tracks of Billy and the man where Billy had taken the hat and realizes Billy will come to kill the man himself. He sets out to stop that. When McKee returns to camp that evening, neither Canfield nor his vehicle are at the campsite. Instead, there is a note saying he will return; oddly, he signed the note John, when his name is Jeremy. McKee sleeps outside, waking on hearing unexpected sounds. He moves away from

2420-440: The trap being set by the Navajo. McKee finds Canfield's vehicle, and sees his dead body inside it, but does not tell Miss Leon. Not fully grasping their danger, Miss Leon wants to get help for McKee. As they argue, the Navajo returns, with his weapon. He wants McKee to write a letter like the one Canfield left him. McKee's strategy is not to write the letter. The tall Navajo sees that McKee cannot write until his hand heals. He takes

2475-515: The use of prosecution and defense lawyers, conducted the questioning himself, and permitted the introduction of unsubstantiated hearsay . Penn himself gave the closing charge and directions to the jury, but what he told them was not transcribed . According to the minutes of the Provincial Council, dated February 27, 1683, the jury returned with a verdict of "Guilty of having the Comon Fame of

2530-472: The witch is in animal guise (by shooting) or by means of counter-witchcraft". The Hopi have many beliefs and concerns about witches and witchcraft. To the Hopis, witches or evil-hearted persons deliberately try to destroy social harmony by sowing discontent, doubt, and criticism through evil gossip as well as by actively combating medicine men. Suspicious deaths are often blamed on witchcraft, with members of

2585-417: The witches were being accused they were always guilty until proven innocent, rather than innocent until proven guilty . The presumption of being innocent is one of the key elements to a fair trial, which none of the accused were being given. Also, none of the witches were represented by counsel. They had no defense lawyers present which could have changed the trials drastically. When being accused of witchcraft,

2640-575: The word at a trading post to entice Luis to come in. At the trading post, McKee and Leaphorn see a tall Navajo man buying a new hat. He tells them his old one was stolen, but, curiously, the expensive silver concho hatband on it was not stolen. Leaphorn says aloud, "Otherwise we'll go in there and get him", which the stranger hears. The next morning, the body of Luis is found near Ganado, Arizona ; he had been suffocated with sand after being killed elsewhere. Leaphorn rues his statement, feeling it led to this murder. McKee and his colleague, J. R. Canfield, begin

2695-590: Was acquitted of witchcraft but sentenced to be hanged for the death of her child. She died in prison. In 1648 Margaret Jones was the first person to be executed for witchcraft in Massachusetts Bay Colony. From 1645 to 1663, about eighty people throughout England's Massachusetts Bay Colony were accused of practicing witchcraft. Thirteen women and two men were executed in a witch-hunt that lasted throughout New England from 1645 to 1663. The Salem witch trials followed in 1692–93. These witch trials were

2750-522: Was an epidemic in the United States that caused many to fear for their lives, whether they were being accused, or they were fearing those who were thought to be a part of it. Many accused witches would be packed in local jails. In 1692, the royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay , William Phips , created a special court in order to try the accused witches. The court was called the Court of Oyer and Terminer which means "to hear and determine". When

2805-557: Was much more skeptical and had more critical thinking than most other states. The first woman accused of witchcraft in New York was Katherine Harrison . She was jailed for about a year in Connecticut when she was first accused of witchcraft in 1669. Her husband then died, and she inherited a large sum of money. It is believed after her move her neighbors and towns people were jealous of her money and caused her of practicing dark arts. But she

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2860-488: Was never found guilty. Another woman accused in New York was Elizabeth "Goody" Garlick , living during the 1650s in East Hampton, Long Island, would be accused of worse: witchcraft and causing the death of a 16-year-old neighbor who became ill due to a fever. Her case is well known today because of its gravity, and the role of mass hysteria the townspeople caused. Goody's accusations actually started thirty five years before

2915-412: Was never overlooked because those who participated were thought to have an agreement with the devil, therefore choosing him over God and obtaining supernatural powers. In 1645, Springfield, Massachusetts , experienced America's first accusations of witchcraft when husband and wife Hugh and Mary Parsons accused each other of witchcraft. At America's first witch trial , Hugh was found innocent, while Mary

2970-471: Was put to the test for the accusations by weighing her against the dutch bible. But since she was heavier than the Bible, she was considered not a witch. Even though there was multiple accusations, the witch trials in New York were few and far between. Margaret Mattson and another woman were tried in 1683 on accusations of witchcraft in the Province of Pennsylvania . They were acquitted by William Penn after

3025-471: Was said to have been. Many local families have their own version of the Moll Dyer affair, and her name is spoken with care in the rural southern counties. New York actually became a sanctuary for women accused of witchcraft since New York did not fall into the mass hysteria of accusing people of witchcraft. While New York was not a place of high and mass hysteria, they still had a few accusations. But New York

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