Joe Leaphorn

{{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox character | name = Joe Leaphorn | series = The Leaphorn and Chee series | image = | caption = Joe Leaphorn portrayed by Zahn McClarnon | first = ''[[The Blessing Way]]'' | last = ''[[The Shape Shifter]]'' | creator = [[Tony Hillerman]] | portrayer = [[Fred Ward]]<br />[[Wes Studi]]<br />[[Zahn McClarnon]] | gender = Male | occupation = Navajo tribal police officer | nationality = [[Diné]] }} Lieutenant '''Joe Leaphorn''' is a fictional character created by the twentieth-century American [[Mystery fiction|mystery]] writer [[Tony Hillerman]]. He is one of the two officers of the [[Navajo Tribal Police]] who are featured in a number of Hillerman's novels.<ref>George N. Dove and Earl F. Bargainnier (eds), ''Cops and Constables: American and British Fictional Policemen'', Popular Press, 1986, [https://books.google.com/books?id=G6vilUbhLQEC&pg=PA98 pp. 98–113], {{ISBN|0879723343}}.</ref> The other officer is [[Jim Chee]].

== Character biography ==

===Personal life and education=== The mother of Joe Leaphorn was Anna Gorman. His maternal grandfather was Hosteen Klee Thlumie, called Hosteen Klee by young Leaphorn. As a child, Leaphorn was told the stories of the Navajo way of life (''[[Listening Woman]]'') by Thlumie. He was educated in the lower grades near home on the reservation, but sent to boarding school for the higher grades. He attended college at [[Arizona State University]], where he completed a master's degree in anthropology, writing a thesis paper (''[[Dance Hall of the Dead]]''). In addition to anthropology, he has a lifelong interest in the many religions of American Indians and peoples of the world. In the earlier books of the series, Leaphorn is married to the love of his life, Emma. They have no children. Emma has survived an episode of cancer, but experiences a recurrence which she does not survive. Leaphorn is devastated.

Later, Leaphorn becomes attracted to an [[anthropologist]] named Louisa Bourebonette, whom he meets while working on a case in ''[[Coyote Waits]]''. Leaphorn is always in love with Emma, but he enjoys Louisa's sharp mind and her company.

Leaphorn lives in the Navajo capital of [[Window Rock, Arizona]].

===Professional life=== [[File:Navajo Police Chevrolet Tahoe.jpg|300px|thumb|Joe Leaphorn is a member of the Navajo Tribal Police (now [[Navajo Nation Police]])]]

Educated in assimilationist [[Indian boarding schools]] operated by the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]], he is not as well versed in Navajo rituals, though he has attended the usual ceremonies. He is fluent in Navajo and in English. In the first three novels of the series, he has no staff; he reports to Captain Largo in the Navajo Tribal Police and works with officers of other tribes and often with federal investigative agencies. Leaphorn's approach to his cases is informed by some Navajo, or [[Navajo Nation|Diné]], tradition, but also by Anglo-European logic.

Leaphorn holds a Navajo world view, with no expectation of heaven in the afterlife, instead a need to find his place in this life and lead his life well. He follows the rules of courtesy of the Navajo as to the ebb and flow of conversations, and his ability to handle demanding characters from the white world around him. In ''[[Talking God]]'', the year following the death of his wife, Leaphorn has a Blessing Way ceremony done for him by Jim Chee, an event that both find beneficial.

In his career he works in a number of locations, including a brief stint training at the FBI headquarters in [[Washington, D.C.]] Five months before ''[[The Fallen Man]]'', Leaphorn retires, and as part of the plot he gets a commission as a private investigator.

==Reception== Several reviewers have praised Hillerman's culturally sensitive depiction of the Leaphorn character. ''Kirkus Reviews'' noted the "quiet, wise presence of Leaphorn himself, unselfconsciously drawing on the best of two clashing cultures."<ref name="Kirkus">{{cite web |date=April 4, 2012 |title=Listening Woman |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tony-hillerman/listening-woman/ |access-date=May 28, 2014 |work=Kirkus Reviews |edition=April 1, 1978}}</ref> Another Kirkus review praised "Hillerman's anything but wooden Indians and the way in which he informs their way of life with affection and dignity."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tony-hillerman/dance-hall-of-the-dead/ |title=Dance Hall of the Dead |work=Kirkus Reviews |edition=October 1, 1973 |date=April 4, 2012 |access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> Greg Herren wrote, "What makes ''Skinwalkers'' so outstanding, for me, is that it takes the reader inside the world of the [[Navajo reservation]]".<ref name="rte">{{cite web |url=http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=2407 |title=Skinwalkers |work=Reviewing the Evidence, Reviews |date=February 2003 |last=Herren |first=Greg |access-date=March 7, 2012}}</ref>

==Bibliography== Joe Leaphorn appears in the following novels:

*''[[The Blessing Way]]'' (1970) {{ISBN|0-06-100001-9}} *''[[Dance Hall of the Dead]]'' (1973) {{ISBN|0-06-100002-7}} *''[[Listening Woman]]'' (1978) {{ISBN|0-06-100029-9}}

In the three novels published between 1978 and 1986, the stories focus on the younger Jim Chee.

In each of the following Leaphorn and Jim Chee work together: *''[[Skinwalkers (novel)|Skinwalkers]]'' (1986) {{ISBN|0-06-100017-5}} *''[[A Thief of Time]]'' (1988) {{ISBN|0-06-100004-3}} *''[[Talking God]]'' (1989) {{ISBN|0-06-109918-X}} *''[[Coyote Waits]]'' (1990) {{ISBN|0-06-109932-5}} *''[[Sacred Clowns]]'' (1993) {{ISBN|0-06-109260-6}} *''[[The Fallen Man]]'' (1996) {{ISBN|0-06-109288-6}} *''[[The First Eagle]]'' (1998) {{ISBN|0-06-109785-3}} *''[[Hunting Badger]]'' (1999) {{ISBN|0-06-109786-1}} *''[[The Wailing Wind]]'' (2002) {{ISBN|0-06-019444-8}} *''[[The Sinister Pig]]'' (2003) {{ISBN|0-06-019443-X}} *''[[Skeleton Man (Tony Hillerman novel)|Skeleton Man]]'' (2004) {{ISBN|0-06-056344-3}} *''[[The Shape Shifter]]'' (2006) {{ISBN|0-06-056345-1}} *''Spider Woman's Daughter'' (October 2013) (written by [[Anne Hillerman]]) HarperCollins {{ISBN|9780062270481}} *''Rock With Wings'' (May 2015) (written by Anne Hillerman) HarperCollins {{ISBN|9780062270511}} *''Song of the Lion'' (April 2017) (written by Anne Hillerman)

==Appearances in other media== ===Film=== *''[[The Dark Wind (1991 film)|The Dark Wind]]'' (1991), adapted from the novel of the same name, stars [[Fred Ward]] as Leaphorn. ===Television=== *In 2002 the novels ''Skinwalkers'', ''A Thief of Time'' and ''Coyote Waits'' were adapted as part of the ''[[Mystery!|American Mystery!]]'' series by the [[Public Broadcasting Service]] (PBS). Leaphorn was portrayed by [[Wes Studi]]. *The [[AMC (TV channel)|AMC]] series ''[[Dark Winds]]'', which adapts several of the Hillerman novels, stars [[Zahn McClarnon]] as Leaphorn.

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leaphorn, Joe}} [[Category:Fictional American police detectives]] [[Category:Fictional characters from Arizona]] [[Category:Fictional Navajo people]] [[Category:Fictional police lieutenants]]