The first time I came in contact with the Native American Church (NAC) was in 1949, when my uncle Ambrose Lee conducted a prayer service that I attended.   As young as I was and growing up without a mother, I did not know what my future held.  I needed some direction in life, and now I know that the NAC has helped me in that way.

I have been an NAC member since 1949.  I am very interested in the history of our church, and I wish to share some of it with my people.   The stories and information in this magazine were collected and researched since 1992.  The stories are put together with our children in mind, for their use as future reference material.

These stories are narrations collected from our elders of the NAC who were willing to share their memories and experiences, which is very appropriate because we also are honoring our past leaders of the Navajo Nation.  I publicy thank our former Navajo Nation Chairman Raymond Nakai, the late Navajo Nation Vice Chairman Nelson Damon, and their staff; it was under this administration that Medicine Peyote was legalized on Navajoland.

I also want to thank my uncle former Navajo Nation President Peterson Zah and my grandson Navajo Nation Vice President Marshall Plummer for their lobbying efforts for the American Indian Religious Freedom Act amendments of 1994
               (Public Law 103-344).            

- Jefferson Lee