The story of indigenous cultures in the United States is almost as old as the land itself. By nonindigenous measures, including the anthropological and archaeological records and Western calendars, they are entering at least their tenth millennium. Despite facing ongoing destructive external forces, particularly over the last 500 years, many of these cultures have witnessed thousands of years of evolution on the North American continent. But viewing these cultures by such scientific standards ignores the depth of their connection to the continent, a depth that is reflected in the oral histories passed down by generations of indigenous people. These histories stretch back to what many indigenous people call “time immemorial,” or the beginning of time, and tell of the first moments of the planet’s existence, the birth of humankind, and the peopling of the land. These stories are central to many aspects of indigenous culture and spirituality in the same way that sacred texts like the Bible or the Quran are central to Christianity or Islam. Unlike those texts, though, these oral traditions and stories, passed down over centuries, evolve with time and collective experience, and they continue to inform the core cultural beliefs and values of many tribes.