Los Angeles - Author Tony Hillerman, whose mystery novels shone a light on the clash between Navajo traditions and modern society, has died at aged 83 from pulmonary failure.

Hillerman died Sunday at the Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Born in Oklahoma in 1925, he grew up surrounded by Native Americans and their culture, and his work was characterized by intricate plots and fascinating accounts of tribal rituals.

He was a journalist until he tried his hand at novel writing at the age of 40, setting his novels in a remote area of the US south- west and focusing on two Navajo police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, one who respects the Navajo traditions and the other who is deeply skeptical of them.

Leaphorn was introduced in Hillerman's first novel The Blessing Way in 1970, while Chee first came on the scene in Listening Woman in 1978. But it was their debut appearance together in the 1986 novel Skinwalkers that created Hillerman's first bestseller. He wrote 18 Navajo novels, and more than a dozen other books, including a memoir and appreciations on the history, nature and landscapes of the south- west.

Hillerman said that the purpose of his novels was to instill among Americans a respect for native culture.

"It's always troubled me that the American people are so ignorant of these rich Indian cultures," Hillerman once told Publishers Weekly. "I think it's important to show that aspects of ancient Indian ways are still very much alive and are highly germane even to our ways."

He is survived by his wife, Marie, and six children, five of them adopted. (dpa)