"In these pages are the words of Native peoples of the Southwest remembering the thoughts and perceptions of our ancestors in which the beauty of life and place is acknowledged. They talk about the emergence from the womb of the Earth Mother, moving from darkness into the light of the Father Sun. They talk about traveling and searching for the center place alongside lightning, sacred clouds, rainbows, and water spiders. They remember that the center place is where prayers and songs of the mountains, the rain, the deer, and the clouds are given to the breath of the cosmos. They also remember that transformation is in our very next step, much as clouds transform before our eyes." -- Rina Swentzell from the Foreword.