Just shy of 6 a.m. on a November morning, the pre-dawn temperature hovers barely above freezing. The stars are achingly bright in the rich, black-velvet sky. A sliver of moon hangs over the spectacular buttes of Monument Valley on the Arizona-Utah border. As our jeeps caravan down the sandy road, a soft gold creeps along the horizon to the east. The "Mittens" rock formations become half-seen giants against the glow.

An hour later, after a jostling ride through sandy washes and rocky trails, we are parked near the "Totem Poles" with film loaded and cameras mounted on tripods. The sun crests the horizon too suddenly. The rock formations glow yellow and orange; the sand dunes become a rippling river of color, light and shadow. For what seems only seconds, we all concentrate on capturing the moment: shutters snap, film changes hands. The light changes as day announces itself. Time to pack up and head for another location.

Our Navajo guides on this trip are award-winning photographer LeRoy DeJolie and Leroy Teeasyatoh. Teeasyatoh has operated Sacred Monument Tours for 12 years. In the early days, he says, he operated with three horses and two "raggedy old" saddles (he rode bareback), waiting along the road for potential customers. He says that those three horses got him everything he has now: his home, corral, jeeps and more horses and saddles. Today, he operates a tour company in Monument Valley, offering tours for a few hours or overnight. "Just tell me what you need," Teeasyatoh says, "and I can arrange it."

LeRoy DeJolie discovered his passion for photography during high school in urban Los Angeles, but it wasn't until he was back living on the Navajo reservation that he began to shoot the stunning landscapes for which he is known today. "There's a big difference between having to work, rather than wanting to work," DeJolie notes. Keeping his livelihood-he earns his living as a steelworker-separate from his photography helps to keep it fresh.

His passion, both for photography and Dinetah (the Land of the Navajo), is what inspires him to share his knowledge with others. "He is very generous with his information and is able to take us in to hidden and unique sites, which makes his workshops an outstanding opportunity," notes a workshop participant Wendel Swanson.

DeJolie leads about a dozen expeditions per year into various parts of the Navajo Nation, both by himself and with Arizona Highways Magazine. This year's planned destinations include Kaibeto Plateau, the Colorado Plateau, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, Hunt's Mesa and Canyon de Chelly, among others. A special new adventure, "LeRoy's Secret Places," will take photo buffs to special locations that DeJolie has found and photographed over the years. In addition, he is putting together a photography clinic for Native Americans at Lake Powell in August.

When DeJolie talks about his land, his throat tightens with emotion. "As far as I'm concerned, Hunt's Mesa is the center of the earth. It's also the center of my heart."

Arizona
Canyon de Chelly National Monument-Sheer red cliffs and Anasazi ruins: White House, Antelope House, Standing Cow, Mummy Cave. Except for the 2.5-mile White House trail, hiking or driving within the canyon requires an authorized Navajo guide and Park Service permit. ; 928/674-5500
Navajo National Monument-Two of the most-intact Anasazi cliff dwellings. Betatakin ruin is a 2.5-mile hike (seasonal; ranger-led only) from park headquarters or can be viewed from Betatakin Point. Keet Seel is an 8-mile hike or via horseback (permit required). ; 928/672-2700

Colorado
Mesa Verde National Park-Anasazi cliff dwellings include Cliff Palace, Fire Temple, Balcony House, Spruce Tree House, Step House, Long House, New Fire House, and also many Pueblo and pit-house ruins. Most ruins are accessible through self- guided hikes and from the opposing canyon rims. A tour of either Cliff Palace or Balcony House and Long House must be ranger-guided. Walks to mesa-top ruins and canyon overlooks are mostly easy, but entering cliff dwellings can be fairly strenuous. ; 970/529-4465.

New Mexico
Aztec Ruins National Monument-The Aztec ruin (an Anasazi site with nothing to do with the Aztec people of Mexico) consists of a 400-room, nine-kiva pueblo. A restored great kiva is accessible to the public. ; 505/334-6174
Chaco Culture National Historical Park-Ruins of a major Anasazi trade and ceremonial center. A paved loop drive provides driving access to Chacoan sites in the heart of the canyon, including the three-story Pueblo Bonito. Most of these sites have easy, self-guided walking tours. Moderately strenuous backcountry hiking trails (permits required) lead to more remote sites, petroglyphs and mesa-tops with panoramic vistas. Ruins include Pueblo Bonito, Casa Rinconada, Chetro Ketl, Una Vida, Hungo Pavi, Kin Kletso, Casa Chaquita and Pueblo del Arroyo. ; 505/786-7014

Utah
Hovenweep National Monument-Paved roads lead from both Cortez, Colorado and Blanding, Utah. Six sets of Anasazi ruins: Square Tower Ruins and Cajon Ruins in Utah, and the Holly, Hackberry Canyon, Cutthroat Castle and Goodman Point ruins in Colorado. Square Tower Ruins are near the visitors center and require a 2-mile hike around the canyon rim. Dirt roads and some hiking are required to access the outlying ruins. ; 970/562-4282

Details: LeRoy DeJolie leads photo workshops for the Friends of Arizona Highways () as well as his own NavajoLand Images photography workshops (in formats ranging from 35mm to 8x10). Download his 2003 schedule at www.dejolie.com. He also sells limited-edition prints of his images through Target Media (480/513-8877). For details on Sacred Monument Tours: 435/727-3218 or .

Hilary Wallace is art director of Native Peoples. She wrote about Guatemala and its rich Native weaving traditions in Nov/Dec 2001.

The Olympic Peninsula, on Washington State's northwest corner, is home to Olympic National Park and Cape Alava. Cape Alava was once home to the Ozette (pronounced Ho-sett) or the Ho-Selth, who called themselves Kwih-dich-chuh-ahtx or "people who live by rocks and seagulls." We now call these people the Makah, the name given by a neighboring tribe, the Jamestown S'Klallam, meaning "generous with food."

A terrific way to see this area is on foot, on a 10-mile loop trail maintained by the National Park Service. The trail includes a magical three-mile section through a coastal rain forest. Here the trail runs on cedar planks cut from 1,000-year-old western red cedars. This tree was of great value to the region's Native peoples, who utilized its bark to make clothing and hats to protect themselves from the 100 inches of annual rainfall. Its roots were used in basket making, while canoes were carved from whole trees to hunt seals and migrating gray whales. The Native peoples also built cedar-planked longhouses averaging 60 by 30 feet with 15-foot ceilings. Today the cedar planks protect the vegetation beneath the trail.

Walking through a spring-meadow quilt of blue camas flowers, I enter the forest, listening to a symphony of songbirds arriving in their nesting grounds while drumming woodpeckers search dead wood for insects. Sound switches to surf, smell to salty air as the trail ends on a rocky Pacific Ocean beach. Seals dot the beach, sunning themselves at low tide as dozens of great blue herons wade in search of a meal. Bald eagles perch on rocky sea stacks (isolated columns of rock surrounded by the sea) among waves or in trees that extend over the eroded banks at the water's edge.

I journey north up the beach a half-mile more. The Makahs, who now live north of here in Neah Bay, tell the story of the Ozette whaling village at their cultural center. The Ozettes lived at Cape Alava until about 500 years ago, when a mudslide buried their village. In the late 1960s, after a series of storms pounded the coast, artifacts began showing up on the beaches. The Makahs, who knew of the village, engaged archaeologists to dig the site. More than 55,000 artifacts were recovered and are now housed at the tribal cultural center at Neah Bay.

Having been to the cultural center, I wanted to visit the former Ozette Village just north of the Makah Cape Alava Ranger Station. Although the site has been closed for many years, a small cedar house remains here. Inside are whale bones and an altar where visitors leave shells, stones or whatever moves them to honor the people who once lived there. A loose-leaf notebook is on the table with a moving story written by a Makah about finding her roots in a story published in National Geographic (Oct. 1991). The inconspicuous site exuded a powerful presence, echoes of some of the continent's original peoples.

I continued south along the coastal trail, passing through and over headlands that line the coast. Near the beach I came upon "Wedding Rocks," covered with more than 40 petroglyphs. Archaeologists estimate these drawings-whales, a fisher with dip net, fertility symbols-are 300 to 500 years old, probably carved by the peoples who lived at Ozette Village.

After three miles of hiking the beach among the crabs and the driftwood at low tide, I reach Sand Point, where backpackers have set up their tents on this sandy outcrop. Here a return three-mile trail leads back to the National Park Visitor Center, completing this spectacular triangular trail system that seems to have led me to the end of the earth and back in time.

Details: Visit www.nps.gov/olym/index.htm, the Olympic National Park site. Reservations are required for beach camping. Also contact the Makah Cultural and Research Center, 360/645-2711 or . The Makah tribe hosts its annual major public gathering, Makah Days, in late August with a grand parade, street fair, canoe races, traditional "slahal" games, dancing, singing, feasting and spectacular fireworks.

Pat Blue Heron of Oregon is a travel journalist and consultant. Her passions include visiting ancient indigenous sites in her motorhome, "Minnie." Enjoy more of her stories at .

When one thinks of Montreal and the province of Quebec, Canada, its historic Native heritage is not what first comes to mind. But the immense province is actually home to 11 major tribes, with hundreds of villages and "reserves" scattered from the banks of the majestic St. Lawrence River to the frozen edge of Hudson Bay above the tree line in the Arctic.

These lands offer visitors a wide range of interesting outing possibilities, from sightseeing, fishing on isolated rivers and lakes, and hunting big game to searching out distinctive arts and crafts, visiting Native cultural centers and museums, and attending powwows and other cultural festivals-from small affairs to international gatherings. In winter, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are popular diversions.

Where to begin? Many international visitors arrive in the region through Montreal. Within the city is the outstanding history museum Pointe-a-Calliere (514/872-9150, ), which provides a terrific overview of the region's Native and non-Native past, and describes how each culture helped shape the other through more than 500 years of cohabitation. Montreal is also home to the annual First Peoples' Festival, held in early June (514/278-4040, ). The festival includes a renowned film competition with works screened from across the U.S., Canada (with many works sponsored by the remarkable National Film Board) and even Latin America. Often the filmmakers are present, allowing the public rare opportunities to discuss these cutting-edge works with the creative forces behind them. Other festival attractions include art exhibitions, an arts and crafts "village" set up in a local park, panel discussions, and indoor and outdoor concerts and dance performances featuring major and up-and-coming artists. Last year's "stars" included Joanne Shenandoah, George Leach, Claude McKenzie, Emile Gregorie, Richard Desjardins and Kathia Rock.

Just south of the city, across the vast St. Lawrence River, is the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake, which spans some 14,000 acres and includes 6,300 residents, many gathered into a small town. Here you can visit a modest but noteworthy community museum and cultural center (450/638-0880) with history displays and changing art exhibitions. Don't miss the several arts and craft shops, including Wolf's Den, the Five Nations Shop and Okwari Crafts Shop, displaying the region's specialties: beaded goods, fur and leather apparel, bone and antler carvings, and birchbark goods. Here too is the studio/shop Tammy Beauvais Designs (450/635-6757, ), run by the unique and talented Mohawk apparel designer. The community also hosts Quebec's major powwow in mid-July, with some 500 dancers and arts and craft sales, and a good local newspaper, the Eastern Door.

Some two hours to the west is the nation's capitol, Ottawa, a beautiful city perched above the impressive Ottawa River. Here you'll find one of the world's finest museums, the Museum of Civilization (800/555-5621, www.civilization.ca), which includes many excellent galleries and exhibitions dedicated to exploring Canada's Native cultures. Its Grand Hall contains dozens of full-size totem poles and examples of many of the traditional homes and lodges of peoples ranging from British Columbia to the Atlantic seaboard.

The province's third major city-and arguably North America's most beautiful-Quebec City also contains sites of interest. In particular, it houses a handful of outstanding museums and galleries devoted to Native arts, such as Musee d'Art Inuit (perhaps Canada's best selection of Inuit sculpture; 39 Saint-Louis St., ), Sachem (gallery and boutique, 17 Rue Desjardins, 418/692-3056) and Le Palier (20 Cote de la Montagne, 418/964-9307). Just north of the city is the Huron community of Wendake, where you can find several other more Native-owned galleries and gift shops. Also found here is a fine, small cultural center with restaurant and excellent gallery, Village des Hurons (418/842-4308, ). It includes a re-creation of traditional longhouses, history displays of the Hurons (once a mighty tribe of some 25,000 people reduced through disease and warfare to some 300 individuals at one point), daily dances and demonstrations, canoe outings, traditional archery, snowshoeing, and participation in a traditional sweat lodge ceremony.

But, of course, the heart of the region's Native culture is found outside the urban centers, amidst Quebec's seemingly endless pine and birch forests dotted with tens of thousands of lakes, ponds, bogs, streams and rivers. For a desert dweller, the abundance of water is like a balm on the soul. Many of the Native reserves offer up terrific fishing for trout, walleye, northern pike and many other species. But beware; the bugs can be ferocious! Arrangements for accommodations, gear and guides can be made through many tribal governments, as we found out last June in the off-the-beaten path reserve of Wemotaci (also spelled Weymontachie; 819/666-2237), one of the Atikamekw communities.

We three fishermen and guide Dominic Boivin had a huge river all to ourselves. The bugs out-bit the fish, but we had a memorable morning wetting our lines beneath a huge dam outlet on the beautiful Saint-Maurice river, while Dominic cooked up some delicious moose and eggs for breakfast over a campfire. Like most Quebec Natives in the countryside, he spoke his own language and French, but we managed to communicate just fine. Back in the village, he showed us around his home and displayed some of his own carved moose-antler arts and birchbark baskets, which we purchased.

Details: Canada's National Aboriginal Day is celebrated on June 21, with hundreds of special events taking place across the nation. For details on Native travel in the Quebec region, contact Quebec Aboriginal Tourism Corp., which produces a terrific free guidebook, "Quebec Aboriginal" (877/698-7827, ), or Tourisme Centre-du-Quebec (819/364-7177, 888/816-4007). For far north Quebec travel among the Inuit, contact the Nunavik Tourism Association (888/594-3424, ). Native-owned Voyages Inter Nations (800/463-4673) arranges complete trips.

Daniel Gibson is editor of Native Peoples. His most recent book is Pueblos of the Rio Grande: A Visitor's Guide (Rio Nuevo Publishers).

One of the most gratifying things you can do in life is help someone in need. I found this out firsthand in Browning, Montana on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation last August.

For the previous seven months, I had been doing some soul-searching to find my purpose in life. After much thought and prayer, an opportunity came to me last July in a flyer from the University of Wisconsin Alumni Association. They were cosponsoring a trip to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation with a group called Global Volunteers. Since I studied Native American culture at UW-Madison and was looking for a way to give back to humanity, this seemed to be the answer I sought.

Global Volunteers has been involved with the Blackfeet Nation for five years. Our group leader was Michele Gran, vice president of Global Volunteers. "We're very proud of our partnership with the Blackfeet Nation," Michele said in a recent interview. "The community is very generous to welcome us so warmly into their lives. As non-Indians, our volunteers obtain a rare and privileged perspective that tourists miss entirely."

Our volunteer group consisted of Michele plus 23 alumni and students from UW-Madison. We ranged from 19 to 75 years old-as you can imagine, the group dynamics were amazing. But by the end of the week, it was like we were all one big family.

We were involved in helping out at the local Head Start facility. We worked with the Blackfeet to build a swing set, lay sod for a playground and clean up the property. Although it was hard at times, I found the work extremely fulfilling. As one Browning resident said after observing our work, "Your efforts have brought happiness to this place now and for years to come."

In our free time we attended a rodeo and went on hikes in Glacier National Park. The scenery in Glacier was some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Being in nature really gave me the time I needed to be with my thoughts and concentrate on my inner peace.

On the last night of the trip, some of the Blackfeet threw a party for us. A traditional Blackfeet meal was served, which included buffalo meat, potatoes and carrots. One of the highlights on the menu was definitely the frybread, which tasted like a donut with no frosting. We put huckleberry jam on it, which made for a delicious treat! At the end of the evening, we participated in a drum ceremony and sang traditional Blackfeet songs. At one point everyone was holding hands in a circle and dancing. It was a really nice atmosphere and a great way to end a week of hard work.

Details: Based in Minnesota, Global Volunteers offers service learning programs of one, two or three weeks in communities across the U.S. and around the world. The cost varies with each program (the fee for the Browning trek was about $600) and includes food and lodging, transportation to and from the airport, and instruction from Global Volunteers staff (airfare is not included). Global Volunteers encourages any open-minded individual who wants to experience life on a reservation to join them in service with the people of Browning, or on their two other Native American service programs working with the Lakota or Navajo people. Please call them at 800/487-1074 or visit the Web site at . You'll be in for the experience of your life.

Alexander Barton ().is the vice president of Marketing, Etc., located in Park Ridge, IL.

Millions of visitors flock to San Diego each year to enjoy sun, surf and the city's famous zoo and wild animal park. But those who venture a little farther afield will discover an abundance of Native culture in one of California's loveliest regions. In fact, San Diego County boasts the largest number of reservations in a single U.S. county-18.

The major cultural groups in the region are the Kumeyaay (or Diegueño) and the Cupeño (or Cupa) peoples, as well as the Luiseño and Cahuilla. From fabulous casinos and resorts to tiny cultural centers, plus an annual schedule of powwows and festivals, visitors will find plenty of Native happenings to keep their itineraries filled.

The largest tribe in San Diego is the mighty Kumeyaay Nation. With 18 communities spanning California and Mexico, 12 in San Diego County alone, the Kumeyaay tribes offer visitors a rich cultural heritage spanning thousands of years.

KwaHup-or come in-to Kumeyaay country with a trip to the Barona Museum (619/443-7003, ext. 219). Located on the Barona reservation near Lakeside, the museum houses a large collection of Kumeyaay artifacts, some dating as far back as 8,000 B.C. "These elegant artifacts show the artistry and skill of Barona's ancient Native American ancestors," notes tribal member Beaver Curo. Interactive displays, listening alcoves and dioramas provide a window into traditional Kumeyaay life, song and custom.

The Barona Powwow is held here every Labor Day Weekend. Like other tribal gatherings in the area, the Barona Powwow spotlights southern California tribal dance and song alongside the pan-Indian powwow tradition. Bird singers perform their timeless songs to the rhythm of the men's gourds, while women and men alike gracefully glide like eagles and hawks soaring through the air. Don't miss the peone games; this ancient gambling game is played with white and black bones, blankets and steely nerves, and it frequently lasts the night.

Mission Trails Regional Park, eight miles northeast of downtown San Diego, features 5,800 acres of Native culture. Start at the Visitor and Interpretive Center, then follow the trails that lead to ancient village sites. Cowles Mountain, within the park, is the site of a restored Kumeyaay observatory, where painstakingly arranged stones point the viewer's eye toward the city's highest peak. Peer along the stones at sunrise during the winter solstice to see the light of the rising sun balanced on the peak.

The county's newest attraction is the Kumeyaay-Ipai Interpretive Center (858/679-5417). Located in Poway at the former Silver Lake Archaeological Site, the center lovingly preserves its corner of the Pauwai Valley as the Kumeyaay people knew it before the Europeans came. Trails wind around grinding rock stations, ramadas and a traditional Kumeyaay willow-branch house on the five-acre property. Dedicated in June 2002, the center plans to build its museum soon.

In the north lies the sleepy community of Pala, one of the few San Diego County reservations that doesn't yet have a casino. Today the Cupeños (Cupa), or Kuupangaxwichem, "people who slept here," live here in harmony with their Luiseño neighbors as the Pala Band of Mission Indians.

Despite being one of the tiniest tribes in California, the Cupeños keep their language and culture alive. The Cupa Cultural Center (760/742-1590, ) houses many Cupeño artifacts, and is the home of Cupa Days. The gathering, held the first weekend in May, commemorates the tribe's forced journey from their lush, spring-fed homeland to Pala Mission.

If you're in area in the second week of September, come to the county's biggest Native event, the Sycuan Powwow (619/445-7776, ), held on the Sycuan Reservation, east of the city off I-8. With a huge prize purse, and hundreds of dancers and drum groups from across the continent, Sycuan has become synonymous with the genre. Arlene Galvan, who headlines the organizing committee, says that last year's powwow was the best ever, with "wonderful bird dancing" and the ever-present peone games.

In San Diego's Old Town, visit Shumup Ko Hup (619/297-1930). This Native-owned cooperative store, whose name means "dream come true," features a variety of baskets, jewelry and other items handcrafted by Kumeyaay artisans. Come experience the rich heritage of San Diego's Indian Country!

Details: Many of San Diego's tribes host gatherings and other events open to the public; however, it's best to call ahead before attending any tribal gathering. Visit for contact information on the Kumeyaay communities and their events.

Debra Utacia Krol (Salinan/Esselen)is the book editor of Native Peoples and a regular contributer to this and several other Native publications.

In San Juan Chamula, in the central highlands of Mexico's southernmost state of Chiapas, any time is church time for the local Chiapanecans. Strangers are welcome too, provided they do not bring in cameras. Ever. To glimpse the spiritual heart of San Juan Chamula, you have to go there.

Inside the church, thick wafts of burning copal resin smoke drift up through sunbeams streaming down through the windows. No electricity illuminates the cool cloisters. Instead, the floor is a burning carpet of thin, tapered candles, each glued with wax to the flagstones, flickering brightly in the half-light. Women sit in spaces between the candles, their thick wool skirts gathered up around their knees. Dressed in black-and-white serapes, their men stand, some strumming 12-string guitars. Outside in the courtyard, other men are making potent fireworks to greet the parade of an effigy of San Miguel el Menor, whose special day it is. A rainbow of colored ribbons hangs from large wooden crosses propped against the walls, surrounded by vases of fresh blue agapanthus flowers.

San Juan Chamula is no ordinary church, and Chiapas is no ordinary state. At some level, the church symbolizes the spirit of the tenacious, freedom-loving Chiapanecan people, who took this former Catholic church, built in 1524, and customized it to fit local spiritual needs.

No priests or bishops work here. Instead, shamans dispense spiritual help-gently passing hands over bowls of quivering Jell-O, to symbolize the dispelling and killing of envy, and in another church corner offering supplicants fizzy drinks, to encourage burping to rid the body of malevolent spirits.

We had come to this scene after drifting down the Grijalva River, which cuts through Sumidero Canyon. More than 400 years ago, many Chiapanecan ancestors threw themselves from the canyon's 3,000-foot-high cliffs rather than submit to Spanish colonizers. In Mexico's last frontier state, where indigenous peoples have long struggled to make their voices heard (it is, in fact, home to the Zapatista Indian movement led by Subcomandante Marcos), the church and the canyon are just two in a series of places that bear witness to those cries.

Another river, the Usumacinta on the Guatemalan border, takes us to the Mayan ruin of Yaxchilán, launched-like most Mayan sites, circa 250 AD and at its height from 600-900 AD. On the riverbanks, howler monkeys holler and bark, while their spider monkey cousins eat flowers and fruit while cavorting in the deep-green jungle trees. Hummingbirds, metallic green trogons and swallowtail butterflies swoop over us as we walk up the steps from the river. Here, a stone carving depicts the famous bloodletting rituals Mayan kings and queens had to endure to legitimize their positions. But it is small details, like the delicate carving of a queen's hand on a limestone stele, which lend Yaxchilán its special humanity.

Close by is Bonampak, a Mayan center famous for its unique red, orange and blue murals. Using rabbit-fur brushes, artists painted pictures narrating noble lives and key military victories, stories that archaeologists are only now starting to understand.

While Bonampak and Yaxchilán are intimate ruins, Palenque is the main event, a white, shimmering jewel perched on the edge of the jungle. Here, astute architects designed and built a city whose ruins of 800 structures stretch so far in every direction that its outskirts are in effect suburbs. Yet even here in the great city of Palenque-with its dramatic Temple of the Inscriptions, Temple of the Red Queen, Temple of the Skull and the remains of the tomb of great King Pacal-Mayan charm is in the details. Fat T-shaped openings in walls enabled the wind god to pass freely through the house. Pacal's son and heir, Chan-Bahlum, is depicted as a baby with six toes on each foot, a physical deformity shown repeatedly in his adult portraits.

Nestled between the Otulum and Bat rivers, which drain Palenque, is a small waterfall, and beneath it lies a small intimate pool: the Bath of the Queen. Here, no doubt in common with many visitors before us, we feel we have again touched upon the Mayan, and by extension the Chiapanecan, soul.

Details: Most visitors explore Chiapas and its Mayan ruins with tour groups. Independent travelers can fly into the state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez, or into Villahermosa in the neighboring state of Tabasco, from which the reliable and comfortable Maya de Oro bus company serves the state. Yaxchilan is only accessible by boat; Palenque and Bonampak by road. San Cristobal de las Casas (close to San Juan Chamula) is within a day-trip distance to these ruins. Visit for additional information, or , or , or write the Mexican Tourism Office, 2401 W. 6th Avenue, 5th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90057.

Kenya-born journalist Isabel Nanton last wrote for Native Peoples in the March/April 2002 issue about the Nuu-chah people of Nookta Island, in her adopted home of British Columbia, Canada.

Oneida comedian Charlie Hill tells this joke: "Why don't Native Americans hijack airplanes and demand to be taken to their home countries, like some criminals used to do? What are we going to say?" he asks. "I'm taking over this plane, now fly me to Oklahoma!?" In fact, as the terminus of the infamous "Trail of Tears" (the forced relocation of tens of thousands of Natives from around the nation beginning in the 1830s), Oklahoma is home to 39 tribal governments and is arguably the heart of the Native experience in the United States.

A tour of the state's Native peoples and cultures can begin in Oklahoma City. For an awe- inspiring outing, take a 15-minute jaunt to see the sculpture entitled "The Guardian" atop the state capitol. The sculpture of an Indian warrior was done by Seminole Senator E. Kelly Haney. Also in Oklahoma City are the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (405/478-2250), which includes a substantial collection of Native art and artifacts, and the Oklahoma Indian Art Gallery (405/685-6162), owned by Doris Littrell, recipient of the Oklahoma State Arts Council Award. Open for more than 40 years, it carries an excellent selection of paintings, pottery, jewelry, Native American flutes, vintage baskets, Navajo rugs and beadwork. If you're on the powwow trail, be sure to drop by one of the world's largest, the Red Earth Festival (405/427-5228), being held this year May 23­25 at Oklahoma City Fair Park.

Next head down to Anadarko to the Susan Peters Art Gallery (405/247-7151). The gallery carries the work of Native artists from southwest Oklahoma, such as Robert Redbird and the late Doc Tate Navaquaya. Also in or near Anadarko are the National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians (405/247-5555), with 40 bronze busts of such Indians as Sequoyah and Captain Black Beaver; Indian City USA (, 405/247-5661), which boasts life-size reconstructed villages of seven different tribes; and the Southern Plains Indian Museum (405/247-6221), which includes a permanent exhibit of the art of the tribes of western Oklahoma, and changing one-person shows.

Jim Thorpe, perhaps the greatest athlete of the 20th century, was of Sac and Fox heritage and an Oklahoma resident from 1917 to 1923. His former home in Yale, with his track and field awards and other memorabilia on display, is open to the public (918/387-2815).

Tulsa is home to the wonderful Philbrook Museum of Art (800/324-7941), which displays a great collection of Native arts. Or if you'd like to get out into "the Oklahoma hills" Woody Guthrie sang about, a superb collection of Native art and artifacts is found in the Gilcrease Museum (918/596-2759 or ) and on its 460 acres nestled into the Osage Hills outside the city.

Want to "see the frontier before it's all gone" like Lieutenant Dunbar in Dances With Wolves? In Pawhuska, you will see bison roaming "free" at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve (918/287-4803). Also in Pawhuska is the Osage Tribal Museum (918/287-4622), the first tribally owned museum in America. It was founded by Osage historian John Joseph Mathews, author of The Osages: Children of the Middle Waters. Not far away, southwest of Bartlesville, is the eclectic Woolaroc Museum, a Native heritage center and nature preserve (800/636-0307). Once the country retreat of oilman Frank Phillips (Phillips Petroleum), Woolaroc is now 3,600 acres of woods, lakes and rocks and more than 700 animals, including buffalo, elk, deer and longhorn cattle.

Muskogee is home to the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, the best tribal facility of its kind in the state. The museum (800/652-6552) displays artifacts and art from the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole cultures. Also in Muskogee is the renowned Joe Rector Indian Art Gallery (918/438-4940 or ).

Tahlequah houses the headquarters of the Cherokee Nation, the nation's largest tribe. The Cherokee National Historical Society (888/999-6007) presents Trail of Tears, an outdoor drama by Tony Award nominee Joe Sears. It runs from June 22 through Labor Day, to coincide with Cherokee National Holiday. For total culture immersion, the society also offers one-day tours encompassing a recreated 17th-century village, artist studios, the Cherokee National Museum, storytelling and a Cherokee feast, including in-season meats and frybread. The Cherokee Heritage Center (918/456-2793 or 800/256-2123), located three and a half miles south of town on Highway 62, includes a living ancient village and a museum where three art shows are held annually.

Details: Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department, P.O. Box 60789, Oklahoma City, OK 74136-0789, 800/652-6552, or visit .

Leta Rector (Cherokee), born and raised in Oklahoma, is an award-winning journalist covering Indian Hollywood since 1993. She is also a member of Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity. Her great-great-great grandfather was a scout on the Trail of Tears.