Our story begins in a time of the buffalo, as they move as one across great swaths of land. It is the time of the forest of salmon as they glide through the waters. It is when the eagle surveys the land and looks to steal food from the great bear.

Our people had lived here for so long that even the elders could not explain it in a story. We knew of the mountains and of the plains over which they guarded. We knew well of the life-giving water and its sustenance. We also knew of very few others like us. Some remembered a time when ideas were new and exciting.

My father told me that life was as it had been - our village became one with the land and we took from it only what we needed. We arranged our community to take advantage of the sun from the east and the mountains behind us. We lived as families with all members as equal as another. My grandfather and grandmother told us of harder times when people had to conserve what they had to survive. We believed in our family.

What had been rows of tipis had changed - circles were now preferred. Mothers had seen that children were more easily watched when in front of them and our society felt closer With our large community, we had to have many tipis as our population had grown so large. We now numbered 480 people.

We would sleep as 8 in a tipi, similar to our brothers and sisters across our nation. It was the best use of space and our bodies served to warm the tipi much better.. This arrangement had been passed down for many generations.

Life would go as always - everyone had their role. Hunters hunted, fishermen fished. Salmon was smoked and salted. The youngest girls and boys played games to emulate their elders. One day they would take on adult roles.

One day, from over the mountains came much sound. We had never heard such sounds before. It was as if many spoke as one. It was there one instant but disappeared at night. This happened for three straight nights and days.

We soon realized that our ears had fooled us. The sounds were bouncing off the mountains and were really coming from the water. Finally, it became clear what was happening.