Dance Hall of the Dead

He was so lonely. I think it must be bad to be a Navajo if being lonely bothers you. [168]

Two young teens are missing, one Zuñi and the other Navajo, with strong suspicions that the Zuñi boy was murdered and the Navajo knows how if not by whom. Yet Shalako ceremonies at Zuñi Village will be held in just a few days, when crowds will make investigation difficult and hiding clues easy. Lieutenant Leaphorn makes the rounds of the few places the Navajo boy is known to visit: his family hogan and its troubled past; a nearby archaeology dig site; a Franciscan Mission; a hippy commune. Everyone remembers the boy as a "little crazy" but claims not to know where he's gone.

The FBI lead their own investigation and typically, insist on show more supervising all other law enforcement on the scene. Their approach suggests the missing boys are not a particular motivation, however.

He was finding no order in his thoughts, none of that mild and abstract pleasure which the precise application of logic always brought to him. Instead there was only the discordant clash of improbable against unlikely, effect without cause, action without motive, patternless chaos. Leaphorn's orderly mind found this painful. [74-5]

In this story and the novel before it, Hillerman uses supernatural events as a blind for natural crime. In each case, the perpetrator intended for others to see a mythological interpretation for their behaviour. It will be curious to see if future stories mix it up a bit: criminals not intentionally mimicking supernatural activity, the mythology element overlapping with but not directly connected to the crime, and so forth. And: will there be any scenarios in which the supernatural element is left open to the reader, because irrelevant to the specific solution?

[A]nthropologists have paid scant attention to one of the most basic dimensions of human experience – that close companion of heart and mind, often subdued yet potentially overwhelming, that is known as sense of place. [106]
-- Keith Basso, Wisdom Sits In Places

Hillerman's careful inclusion of landscape references is a key means for acquainting the reader with the lived aspect of Dinetah. Scenes typically include prevailing weather: not merely for scene setting, though it's effective in that way. Immediate conditions are highly relevant to what is happening and what is possible, as evidenced in this story with imminent winter on the high desert and the threat even to seasoned Najavo (never mind a 14-year-old boy alone without food or shelter). In The Blessing Way, territory and climate were relevant both for Leaphorn's immediate need to locate someone hiding in the vast tracts of Dinetah, but also for understanding the ways different people (from different cultures) were likely to see and move through that landscape: other Najavo, military contractors, other indigenous people, city dwellers travelling interstates through reservation lands.

Perhaps even more insightful into the Navajo Way is the land's direct link to Diné stories and values. Places people pass in their daily rounds are the very same places that are featured in their myths and cultural stories. Hillerman regularly notes when events take place near or at these locations, allowing the attentive reader to wonder about the relevance of placenames like Halona or Corn Mountain or Mount Taylor. What is more, these places are shared by other cultures (Hopi, Zuñi, Apache), everyone living among them with slightly different emphases and understanding, and of course, different names. Perhaps similar to Muslim, Christian, and Jewish people living alongside one another in the Middle East, a parallel blend of historical and contemporary.

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This second novel is the first to follow Leaphorn as primary force behind the investigation. While other law enforcement are involved in significant aspects of the larger story bearing on the initial case, Leaphorn is alone in focusing on finding George Bowlegs, the missing Navajo teen. The first novel, by contrast, gave an Anglo anthropologist as much of the drive behind the investigation as it gave Leaphorn. The next significant change won't be for another few novels: when Hillerman introduces the character of Jim Chee.

Again not all Navajo are portrayed as the good guys, here, nor was the primary criminal a Navajo or Zuñi but someone off-reservation. That could become a tiresome scenario if it were to become formulaic. show less

In this second entry in the series, Leaphorn is starting to take shape as a character, and I like him. He is patient, thoughtful, doesn't resent (too much) having to work within the limited jurisdiction and authority of his position as a Navajo police officer. The puzzle this time was quite interesting, as well. Two young Native American boys, one Navajo and one Zuni, have disappeared. One is feared dead, and the other may be a suspect. Several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and probably the DEA, are involved in searching for them, as boundaries are crossed, and drug-dealing may be a factor. I especially like the fact that Leaphorn is no superhuman cop; he hasn't been shot, beaten, or frozen half to death in every book. And show more he doesn't always manage to save the day. So far, he doesn't have an adversarial relationship with a superior, a substance abuse problem, or a complicated love life either. Handled well, those story elements can keep a series going, but this one doesn't need them. The Native American beliefs and practices featured were incorporated easily into the narrative, without feeling "educational". show less

Very good novel about the mysterious death of a Zuni boy and the search for his missing best friend, a Navajo. I enjoyed the blend of mysticism, mystery, history, and culture as Lt. Leaphorn tracks a murderer through the landscape of New Mexico and searches for a missing boy. The mystery is compelling, a sense of place pervades the action, and the cultural information is fascinating. Although this book is over fifty years old, it stands up well against contemporary novels.

The tension between Zuni, Navajo, and white culture hums throughout, and Leaphorn struggles to understand the motivations of the people who embody each of these cultures.

Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman is a 1973 publication.

This is the second installment in the Leaphorn & Chee series, which centers around the disappearance of two boys.

This novel is incredibly interesting as it delves into the Zuni people and the unique laws and beliefs which complicate the investigation. The story held my attention all the way through, and though it is yet another ‘time-capsule’ story which contains some dated storylines- primarily that of ‘hippies and commune living’- nothing else about the story showed its age. The imagery was incredible and Hillerman has a real knack for drawing you into the landscape, making you feel like you are right there with him.

Overall, this is a compelling story, written show more with vivid details and atmosphere. Looking forward to the next installment!

4 stars show less

A Zuni young teen is murdered and his Navajo friend, a Zuni-wannabe, has disappeared, Leaphorn shows his tracking skill, finding moccasin prints days old, anticipating where and when a hungry hunter would go to find game. He also shows his compassion for a young hippie woman who has nowhere to go but an abusive situation. He has no compassion for the white man who won't stand up for her. What he doesn't see is a trap and gets himself in trouble, and a tiny detail he forgets means he doesn't get to a victim in time.
In the end, the traditional enforcers take care of their own, which is more satisfactory than having the Bilagaana outsiders doing a rescue.
A quick, simple read.

Audiobook performed by George Guidall

Book number two in Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn series has Joe investigating the disappearance of two Native-American boys. His efforts are complicated by the unique laws and sacred religious rites of the Zuñi people (Joe is Navajo). There are also federal agents (FBI? DEA?) involved and an important archeological dig in the middle of his search area.

I love the way Leaphorn thinks things through before acting. And I like learning little Native American cultural information in the midst of the mystery plot. Definitely a series I will continue.

George Guidall does a good job on the audio. He has good pacing and I really like the way he voices Leaphorn. There were times when Guidall’s performance show more transported me to my childhood, listening to my grandfather (or grandmother, or aunts or uncles) telling stories in the dark, as we all sat on the porch of a summer evening. But the press of daily life got in my way and the library deadline was fast approaching, so I abandoned the audio and finished reading the second half of the book in a day.

(Note: Updated on second reading - 29Sep20) show less

When a young Navajo boy disappears and it turns out his Zuni friend may have been killed for revealing religious ceremony secrets, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn has to figure out where the kachina spirits meet since Leaphorn is told that the missing boy is making his way there to make amends. The second book in a series can sometimes be a bit of a let-down, but in this case, Hillerman's first installment was the wavering one since it had a split viewpoint and in this installment, Leaphorn is our main character and his viewpoint is strong enough to carry the very high-stakes story. In this story we also get a simple introduction to Zuni religion and the wonders that are kachinas, in this case specifically kachina dancers and the fascinating show more masks they wear when representing their respective supernatural spirits. The books in this series are obviously fiction and not anthropology textbooks, but I do enjoy very much how Hillerman mixes his mysteries with southwest Native American culture to create a niche of his own. show less