Word: navaho
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Luckily, the Navaho religion, which Hillerman repeatedly describes as "fascinating," does not demand absolute privacy: "the more you know, the better," Hillerman says. What he knows is part of the attraction for him; the emphasis on avoiding excesses and fulfilling familial responsibilities strike a chord in his own life...
...advice given to aspiring writers is to "write what you know." In one sense, New Mexican author Tony Hillerman has done that very well; his accuracy and skill in portraying the Navaho religion and culture in his best-selling mystery novels has won him the "Special Friend of the Dineh" award. But the name of the award is important: Hillerman is not of the Dineh, and in choosing a Navaho narrator, he enters a potential mine field the old adage is designed to avoid...
Hillerman, a World War Two veteran who has navigated some literal minefields and emerged with "unreliable" knees, is not fazed by this particular one. His sureness appears to spring from two sources: his personal fascination and identification with the Navaho culture and a willingness to leave some things undescribed...
However, Hillerman says that sharing a sense of cultural past brought on by economic circumstances does not always prepare him for covering religions that are not his own. Although he often double-checks his facts with Navaho friends and attempts to watch ceremonies he is going to describe, matters get especially tricky when he moves outside the Navaho and places his characters in settings where religion is an intensely private matter...
Hillerman's latest novel in his Navaho mystery series, The Fallen Man, features both of his Navaho police detectives, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. The Fallen Man is set on and about the 1,700 foot high Shiprock, a spiritual site for the Navaho in northern New Mexico...