EXPLORATIONS - Shadow Wolves

By Paul Thompson
Studying a fiber¹ left on
the end of a plant: Did
it come from clothes?
Or from burlap used for
transporting
marijuana?
VOICE ONE:

This is Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today we visit the desert
of the American Southwest to learn about a group of people called the Shadow Wolves.

((INDIAN MUSIC))

VOICE ONE:

A Shadow Wolf is hunting. He is not looking for animals. He is hunting people.

The Shadow Wolf walks slowly across the extremely hot desert sand. His eyes move
slowly over the ground. Most people would only see sand, dirt, rocks and some small
plants. The Shadow Wolf sees a story.

He looks closely² at the ground. He can tell that five men passed this way. Four of them
carried heavy loads. He can also tell they are moving quickly. They are not yet running,
but they are moving as fast as their heavy loads permit. One is not carrying a heavy load.
The Shadow Wolf knows this person is the group’s leader.

The Shadow Wolf increases his own speed across the dry, hot desert. Soon, he can tell
that the five men are running. They know he is following them.

Moments later, in the far distance, a group of birds suddenly flies away from the ground.
The five men have frightened the birds. The Shadow Wolf slowly pulls out his radio and
calls for help.

The five men are captured³ within an hour. They are arrested for trying to bring illegal drugs into the United
States. Once again, the Shadow Wolf hunters of the United States Customs Service have been successful.

VOICE TWO

For thousands of years, people were hunter-gatherers. They survived by hunting wild animals and gathering⁴ kinds
of food that were not easily found. Their hunting skills were extremely important. The ancient hunter-gatherers of
the world learned⁵ to follow the signs or marks left on the ground as animals moved along a path.

This skill is called tracking. A good tracker would often spend days following the signs of a group of animals
until he could make a successful kill for food.

VOICE ONE:

These skills have disappeared in most of the modern world. Yet, special members of the United States Customs
Service use them to find and arrest people who try to sell illegal drugs. These Customs Service agents are Native
Americans.

The group is called the Shadow Wolves. There are Eighteen men and one woman in the group. They belong to a
number of different tribes⁷, including Tohono O’Odham (tuh-HO-no ode-um), Navajo (NA-veh-ho), Lakota,
Omaha, Pima(PEE-mah), Yorock (YORE -ock) and Sac&fox (sack n' fox).


Trackers on the Tohono
O'Odham reservation⁸ in
southern Arizona.
(Customs Service photos -
James R. Tourtellotte)
The Shadow Wolves live by a saying that tells a lot about them and their work. The
saying is, ”In brightest day, in darkest night, no evil⁹ shall escape my sight, for I am
the Shadow Wolf.
”

((INDIAN MUSIC))

VOICE TWO:

The Shadow Wolves have been members of the United States Custom Service for

about thirty years. They work on the second largest area of American Indian land in

the United States. It is called the Tohono O’Odham Reservation. It is a few

kilometers west of the city of Tucson, in the southwestern state of Arizona.

The huge reservation shares a one-hundred-twenty-kilometer border with Mexico. People who want to sell illegal
drugs in the United States carry the drugs on their backs across the desert land of the Tohono O’odham
Reservation. They try to move from the border to the nearest road, about forty kilometers away. Usually about
three or four people carry the drugs through the reservation at night. Their shoes leave marks in the dirt.

The Shadow Wolves follow these shoe marks to find the drug dealers¹⁰ and arrest them. The Shadow Wolves have
been very successful at this.

VOICE ONE:

The Congress¹¹ of the United States approved the idea of the Shadow Wolves thirty years ago for several reasons.
Police agencies¹² in Arizona and the United States Custom Service had all the modern technology needed to help
catch people who tried to sell illegal drugs. But they lacked the skills of the ancient hunter-gatherers who could
follow the signs left by people as they passed through the desert.

Customs Service officials knew drug dealers were coming across the border and into the Tohono O’Odham
Reservation. The government asked Indians who lived on the reservation to help in the fight against the drug
dealers. The first members of the Shadow Wolves were members of the Tohono O’Odham tribe⁶.

A few years ago, the first members of the unusual group began to retire. The group asked if skilled¹³ trackers from
other tribes wanted to become Shadow Wolves. The answer was yes.

VOICE TWO:

The Shadow Wolves do not use only their ancient tracking skills. They also use modern devices¹⁴ that help them
see in the dark. They use modern radios to communicate. They use airplanes, helicopters and other methods of
transportation in their work.

They have a very good record. In the first fifteen days of March two-thousand-one, the Shadow Wolves tracked
and captured almost one-thousand-fifty kilograms of illegal drugs. In the following six months, they captured
more than eighteen-thousand kilograms of illegal drugs. One day in April of this year, they seized dealers
carrying more than one-million -six -hundred-thousand dollars worth of drugs through the Tohono O’Odham
Reservation.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE ONE:

The Shadow Wolves main task is finding¹⁵ and stopping illegal drug dealers. Sometimes they are asked to help
rescue people who become lost in the desert.

Three of the Shadow Wolves are Gary Ortega, Jason Garcia and Lambert Cross. Lambert Cross has been a
tracker for almost thirty years. In two-thousand-one, the three Shadow Wolves saved the life of a little boy who
had become lost in the desert.

The child and his dog left their home and walked into the desert. No one could find them. Search aircraft were
used. Experts with dogs were called. The aircraft and the dog experts searched but could not find the little boy.


The three Shadow Wolves then joined the search. They found very little evidence of the boy in the desert. But
they found just enough for them to begin tracking the child. They continued to follow the marks left by the little
boy until they found him and his dog. They returned them to their home.

VOICE TWO:
The Shadow Wolves also share their skills with other law agencies. Jason Garcia and two other members of the

group traveled to Kosovo. They trained border guards there to track people who deal in stolen weapons. They
also helped train police and border guards in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The police and border guards in those countries were often surprised when the Shadow Wolves began teaching¹⁶

them ancient methods of tracking. The Shadow Wolves say the police and guards expected to learn how to use
some kind of modern electronic equipment. Instead they were taught ancient hunting skills.

VOICE ONE:
Bryan Nez is from the Navajo tribe. He has worked with the Shadow Wolves group for twelve years. He learned
to track as a child.

Mister¹⁷ Nez says he learned more by finding lost children and people on holiday who became lost in the desert.
Other Customs Officers say it is interesting to watch him work. Most people would not see anything unusual in

an area. Yet, Mister Nez sees a lot of evidence of people passing through. He says anyone can be followed
because they leave signs on the ground. He says he can follow them even at night, or over rocks.
Sometimes, he says, the evidence he needs is something that he sees. Other times the evidence is something that

he does not see. Sometimes it is just a feeling that he has.
VOICE TWO:
The work of the Shadow Wolves is dangerous. Sometimes the illegal drug dealers carry weapons. Shots have

been fired more than once.
Each of the Shadow Wolves wears a small gray colored feather on his clothing. It reminds them that their work

can be dangerous. It also honors¹⁸ Shadow Wolf Glenn Miles. He was shot and killed by illegal drug dealers in
nineteen-eighty-seven. The person responsible for the crime was never caught.
Several of the Shadow Wolves followed the killer¹⁹. The signs he left on the ground crossed the Mexican border

nine kilometers from where the shooting took place.
VOICE ONE:
Each month, the Shadow Wolves find hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and arrest those carrying the drugs.

The group knows it will never catch all the criminals who try to move illegal drugs through their area. However,
the Shadow Wolves will continue to prove that ancient skills can be used to solve modern crimes.
((INDIAN MUSIC, FADES INTO THEME)
)
VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Cynthia Kirk. This is Shirley Griffith.

VOICE ONE:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program in Special English on
the Voice of America.

 

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1 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

2 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

3 captured   

俘获( capture的过去式和过去分词 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• Allied troops captured over 300 enemy soldiers. 盟军俘虏了300多名敌方士兵。
• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

6 tribe   

n.部落，种族，一伙人

参考例句：

• This is a subject tribe.这是个受他人统治的部落。
• Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills.这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。

7 tribes   

n.部落( tribe的名词复数 )；（动、植物的）族；（一）帮；大群

参考例句：

• tribes living in remote areas of the Amazonian rainforest 居住在亚马孙河雨林偏远地区的部落
• In Africa the snake is still sacred with many tribes. 非洲许多部落仍认为蛇是不可冒犯的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 reservation   

n.保留条件，限制条件；预订座位

参考例句：

• The instruction should be carried out without any reservation.应当不折不扣地执行这个指示。
• I accept your statement without reservation.我完全相信你的话。

9 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。

10 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

11 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。

12 agencies   

n.代理( agency的名词复数 )；服务机构；（政府的）专门机构；代理（或经销）业务（或关系）

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations. 联合国有许多专门机构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The project is funded by the World Bank and other multilateral agencies. 这项计划由世界银行和其他多国机构资助。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 skilled   

adj.(in)熟练的，有技能的；需要技能的

参考例句：

• Unskilled workers usually earn less money than skilled workers.无技能的工人通常比有技能的工人挣钱少。
• She was skilled enough in French to translate a novel.她法语娴熟，足以翻译小说。

14 devices   

n.设备；装置( device的名词复数 )；花招；（为实现某种目的的）计划；手段

参考例句：

• electrical labour-saving devices around the home 节省劳力的各种家用电器
• modern labour-saving devices such as washing machines and dishwashers 诸如洗衣机和洗碗机之类的现代化省力设备

15 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

16 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

17 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

18 honors   

n.礼仪；荣典；礼节； 大学荣誉学位；大学优等成绩；尊敬( honor的名词复数 )；敬意；荣誉；光荣

参考例句：

• He aims at honors. 他力求名誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We did the last honors to his remains. 我们向他的遗体告别。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。