The world's native or original peoples are our ancestors. Although no longer here, their spirit lives on in Fourth World Nations — the Inuit, Lakota, Hopi, Yanomami, Dogon, and others. Their rich reservoir of wisdom includes seeing Spirit in all things, living in harmony with the rhythms of the natural world, practicing interspecies communication, celebrating community through rituals, and keeping culture alive with storytelling.

Editor Shirley Jones has gathered together quotations from 240 ethnic groups from every continent. She has imaginatively arranged them under the following categories: the heralder, the storyteller, the planter, the seeker, the sower, the drummer, the forager, the seer, the heartweaver, the embracer, and the well-wisher.

The art of simply living includes reverence for the good earth: "Every time you admire something in nature, it's a prayer for the Creator." (Vernon Harper, Northern Cree, Canada). It involves other forms of knowing: "To truly know a thing, one must live it completely through the body. When the body has learned, so has the heart, the inner parts of your being." (Chea Hetaka, Brazilian Indian, western Amazon basin). And it is centered around an assurance of abundance: "There is always enough, and enough is plenty." (Guillermo, native, Balearic Islands, Spain). This wonderful collection of ancient wisdom will speak convincingly to the indigenous person inside you.