This collection represents a segment of the lives of the Navajo and Pueblo people of the American Southwest--two diverse groups who are an important part of American culture today. Each year thousands of visitors from all over the world attend their various ceremonial dances and events and many arrive with a knowledge and understanding of these happenings. For others, these are totally new experiences and a door is opened to unfamiliar ways of life, customs, traditions, and beliefs that have existed for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years, long before this country was called America. The American-Indian Quarterly said that "this text promotes the same kind of browsing magazines invite. Come to these gatherings and stroll, it seems to imply on page after page, at your leisure learn to appreciate how feasting and singing merge with dancing and storytelling."