WHITE SHELL WATER PLACE
An Anthology of Native American Reflections on the 400th Anniversary of the Founding of Santa Fe

Blessing
     
      On this place
      May blessings abound
      Among these valleys and mountains
      Along ancient trails of trade and pilgrimage
      Where the waters of the sky fall
      In fringes of rain and grain rises from the fields
      Where animals graze in the meadows
      And run wild in the forests
      Where ravens and hawks have dominion
      Over the blue and purple summits
     
      On this place
      May blessings abound
      Bless our ancestors, may we honor them
      Bless our children, may we be ever thankful for them
      Bless the unborn, may they inherit the good in us
      Bless us who make this prayer, may we be worthy
     
      On this place
      May blessings abound
      Here in this house of art and learning
      May our bodies be strong
      Here in this house of art and learning
      May our minds be open and clear
      Here in this house of art and learning
      May our spirits be one with Creation
     
      On this place
      May blessings abound
      All our lives may we know truth
      All our lives may we know the beautiful
      All our lives may we know inspiration
      All our lives may we know the sacred within us
     
      On this place
      May blessings abound
      Let us live happily inside these words
      Let us live peacefully inside these words
      Let us live thankfully inside these words
      Let us be wholly alive inside these words
      In holiness do we make our prayer
      In holiness do we make our prayer
     
      —N. Scott Momaday