Collection of essays on Native American life in contemporary America, exploring issues such as Pueblo language and literature, the importance of the land to the Indian people, and the unfair treatment Native Americans receive from the U.S. legal system.

Introduction --Interior and exterior landscapes : the Pueblo migration stories -- Language and literature from a Pueblo Indian perspective -- Yellow woman and a beauty of the spirit -- America's debt to the Indian nations : atoning for a sordid past -- Auntie Kie talks about U.S. presidents and U.S. Indian policy -- The people and the land are inseparable -- Tribal councils : puppets of the U.S. government -- Hunger stalked the tribal people -- Fences against freedom -- The border patrol state -- Fifth world : the return of Ma ah shra true ee, the giant serpent -- Notes on Almanac of the dead -- Tribal prophecies -- Stone Avenue mural -- An expression of profound gratitude to the Maya Zapatistas, January 1, 1994 -- Books : notes on Mixtec and Maya screenfolds, picture books of preconquest Mexico -- As a child I loved to draw and cut paper -- The Indian with a camera -- On photography -- An essay on rocks -- On nonfiction prose -- Old and new autobiographical notes.