lands of home a stillness hangs in the air in early morning as ribbons of light appear over the cliffs rising up to the sky to greet the rising sun. the sands begin to warm on the canyon floors below. a new day, a new beginning, a time to renew. one hikes down a trail, deeper into the canyon, searching for one place to stop, to think, to reflect on all that has happened, and to wonder about this uncertain future. how can anyone not understand the meaning of the land to many? the land is a part of a person's spirit. it is what makes people who they are. it is their driving force, their being. it is the sacred nature of the land that many outsiders do not understand. but can they be made to understand, or are they just too blind, too selfish to see? the land pulses through a person's blood. no matter where a person is, the land still calls. it calls in times of troubles; it calls in times of loneliness; it calls in dreams and thoughts; it calls to those who wander away but know they must return to be whole again. is it just the land that does all this? no, it is all that is a part of it. so much is associated with the land, the landscapes, the plant life, the animals, even the weather makes it what it is. to be away from this land brings nothing but lack of balance and harmony to the life lead. there is always a deep, constant longing, a desire to go home again, to walk the lands, to revel in their beauty, "to walk in beauty." this is what the lands bring, something found no where else. in arizona, awesome sunrises and sunsets splash across the skies, the quiet dignity of the deserts, the red rock of oak creek canyon, the majestic mesas and the towering monoliths of Monument Valley, the Superstition Mountains steeped in mystery and in legend, that call some home to a wilderness teeming with desert life, and canyons which offer serenity for those who seek it, needing it in their lives, to escape the maddening crowd, all can not begin to be rivaled anywhere else. so much is offered here to those who know the land well. it is the legends that surround it as well. for the diné four sacred mountains -- to the east, Blanca Peak in Colorado, to the south, Mount Taylor in New Mexico, to the west, San Francisco Peaks in Arizona, and to the north, La Plata Mountain in Colorado to leave this land surrounded by these mountains would mean certain death to a way of life -- it would mean cultural genocide. so how can one not understand or care about all this? the answers are unfathomable to those who know the true meaning of this land connection, something perhaps unexplainable but a part of the life. yet there are those who cannot or refuse to see this because they rape her continuously in the name of progress, not thinking of the displacement of others as a result, or how this violates the sacredness of Mother Earth. these are the people who are ruled by the green they see. these are the truly displaced people, the ones without a home, no where to go to; they are the true lost ones who don't even know. they are the ones who need to become reacquainted with the land, its meaning, its importance in their lives, or they will be doomed, yes, doomed to wander aimlessly, with no roots, with no connection, to remain lost as long as they continue to tear at Mother Earth only to satisfy their constant quest for monetary gains, not caring who is hurt nor what they do to the land. it is they who have broken the circle, causing an uncertain future. it is this future that causes deep concern, one that bothers many, those who know the danger. so they continue to fight, to stand up to those who destroy without thinking, to bring back the harmony, the balance, that which those greedy others seem determined to usurp. the land means everything, it is everything. it must be preserved. for whom one might ask? it is for those who will come after us,      the seventh generation ...        what will be left here for them?