Regrettably, for most Americans this phrase too often describes the state of our memory and understanding of those remarkable people. It has been for me a singular honor and privilege in doing this sculpture series, to have been given an opportunity to, so to speak, reach into that well. This effort, begun in 1983, represents for the first time an attempt to depict in bronze the Woodland Tribes of the Northeast, focusing on the 17th and 18th centuries; and in so doing to help raise consciousness of this too little known but surprisingly significant and fascinating part of our history and heritage.

Memory is how we reclaim them. Memory which relies on imagination - loving concentration on the past which can reawaken in us their spirit - which will enrich our minds and our souls. The result is a combination of myth (imagination) and a reality which creates poetic truth, transcending whatever the facts and going far beyond the specific time and place and subject to touch that which is universal - a celebration of the Divine Presence in the world and in each of us.

It is my sincere hope that these images in bronze help to evoke that time and place, seemingly so ancient and so alien to our own. To remind us as well of their descendants who still proudly walk the earth and who courageously seek to recapture and preserve the rich heritage which is their birthright. Indeed, it is the birthright of us all, for as D.H. Lawrence once observed, "Americans have absorbed in their blood the spirit of the Indian."

Amidst a more complex, impersonal world in which we are too often cut off from our roots and alienated from nature, may they remind us of that more pristine time and place from whence we came - the "Lost Paradise", the "Golden Age" in the race memories of all people. May they help to unlock the door on the path to awareness - to the Great Mystery, to the awe and wonder and harmony which may yet come again into the hearts of men.