The next stop on our sojourn through Native lands was in Colorado at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.  The dunes are home to many plants and animals used for generations by the Dine (Navaho) people and are sacred to them. Formed roughly  440,000 years ago, they are the tallest dunes in North America and one of the most fragile and complex dune systems in the world.  To get to the base of the dunes I had to cross over a stretch of shallow running water more than 50 yards wide. The running water was cool and felt good on my bare feet as I stepped through the firm sand. Perhaps the most surprising thing was seeing the people climbing up the dunes looking like nothing more than mere blips on the horizon. Talk about feeling insignificant!