In addition to the work of Tony Hillerman, the 1970s saw the modern Native American being featured as a detective in the work of Brian Garfield whose Sam Watchman, a Navajo state trooper in Arizona, is featured in Relentless(l972) and The Threepersons Hunt (1974). Richard Martin Stern's novels featured Apache Detective Johnny Ortiz in: Murder in the Walls (1971), You Don't Need an Enemy (1972), Death in the Snow (1973), Tsunami (1988), Tangled Murders (1989), Missing Man (1990), Interloper (1990).

Hillerman's "Navajo" novels include The Blessing Way (1970), Dance Hall of the Dead (1973), Listening Woman (1978), People of Darkness (1980), The Dark Wind (1982), The Ghostway (1984), Skinwalkers (1986), A Thief of Time (1988), Talking God(1989), Coyote Waits(l990), Sacred Clowns(1993), The Fallen Man(l996), The First Eagle(l998), Hunting Badger (1999), and Golden Calf (2002). Hillerman Country with text by Tony Hillerman and magnificent photographs by his brother, Barney Hillmerman, was published by his regular publisher, HarperCollins, Publishers in 1991.