As told by Oraibi Elders

The world at first was endless space in which existed only the Creator, Taiowa. This world had no time, no shape, and no life, except in the mind of the Creator. Eventually the infinite creator created the finite in Sotuknang, whom he called his nephew and whom he created as his agent to establish nine universes.

Albert Laughter is a fifth generation medicine man from the Navajo tribe. He has trained most of his life to treat the people of his tribe with traditional healing methods and natural herbs. But these days, he is employed by the Federal Government to treat military veterans suffering from the trauma of combat.

AUTHOR: Erik Siemers, Tribune Reporter

To the American Indians who hold them sacred, the seven rocks in the way of Paseo del Norte's westward expansion aren't inanimate stones. They're alive. They're connections to their sacred earth that can't be replicated 100 feet away.

Which is why the city's plans to relocate the rocks decorated with ancient petroglyphic markings - even if they're in the same orientation as they were found - is disturbing, said Lorene Willis, director of the Jicarilla Apache's cultural affairs office.

AUTHOR: Somana Yaiva, The Observer

Amidst the dust and set into the backdrop of the San Francisco Peaks, the Navajo Medicinemen's Association held a weekend long ceremony over April 21 through 23 for the safeguarding and continued protection of the sacred San Francisco Peaks.

AUTHOR: Mina Vedder

The old-growth forest in Arlecho Creek is special to the Lummi tribe. It is a place of spiritual worship and a place to interact with Mother Nature.

On a Mille Lacs Kathio State Park interpretive sign, Leonard E. Wabasha is quoted as saying: "My people are the Mdewakanton Oyate. Mdewakanton means the People of Spirit Lake. Today that lake is known as Mille Lacs. This landscape is sacred to the Mdewakanton Oyate because one Otokaheys Woyakapi (creation story) says we were created here.

Gang tags were spray-painted on at least eight large basalt boulders at the edge of the Petroglyph National Monument but none of the ancient petroglyphs was damaged, the monument's superintendent says.

AUTHOR and PHOTOGRAPHER: Shirley Bluejay Pierce

Many days passed before the joy of that day settled deeply into my heart and I could move forward to thinking on the realities of the present situation of the buffalo on our People.

The senseless slaughter of 60 million buffalo brought the herds to the point of extinction.

There was no reverence held for the sacred, life-giving buffalo. These creatures were nothing more than money in pockets and an insane "sport" to people who shot them for no purpose other than target practice. There was no honor and no thanks given for the taken life and the buffalo were left to rot beneath the sun.

AUTHOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER: Shelley Bluejay Pierce

As we completed our prayers, we all sat there with the buffalo herd in silence. The buffalo had been making their low, gentle calls back and forth to each other during the entire time we had been praying and singing for and with them. Yet at the end of the prayers, we all, as one family, sat in peace and silence together.

Slowly the real world began to slip back into the moment and the sounds of bustling tourists and cars crept back into the present. And then, as is most often the case with our Native relatives, the laughter began. Gentle teasing and loving laughter went back and forth between us all and we slowly began our journey back to the parking area.

AUTHOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER: Shelley Bluejay Pierce

Time never stops and is always moving us forward and through the changes of seasons. Time stands as an unforgiving taskmaster that regulates the passage through eternal tides.

One breath at a time and one second at a time adds together to a life well lived or one filled with sadness at missed opportunities to make the world a better place. On this September day there was peace, prayers, songs and the drum joining together with the buffalo and humans in a meadow where time seemed to stand still.