An exercise inspired by Taos, NM

Once upon a time there was a mountain called Saint Christopher. There were rivers and deer and bears and a small tribe of humans, who lived among their sheep and survived on the wild plants and corn that grew there. After some time, families from the South seeking farmland settled there, and brought horses and dogs and a language that sounded like fast dancing on planks of wood. For the most part, they lived in harmony nearby the people of the Earth, and after time their children intermarried, and a sheep was traded for a dog, a pile of corn traded for a bag of flour. The families of the South brought a house of god, and once a week they would go inside the house with nice clothes, and sing.
More time passed and men with pale faces from the East came riding on horses. They carried sticks that shot fire, and spoke in a language that sounded like a hand slapping on mud. These people lived inside their homes and shot fire at the deer who drank by the river. These people had sharp tools that cut trees and moved rocks. They flattened the earth, and they drove their horses back and forth on it.
A battle broke out between the people of the Earth, the families of the South and the Pale faces. Great warriors were lost on all sides. The people of the Earth moved into the mountain, the families of the South moved out onto the valley, and the Pale faces made their own settlement on a ridge overlooking it all.
Hundreds of years passed quietly with intermittent battles between the people who lived on the mountain. Young people in Volkswagen buses came looking to build large houses where people of their kind could smoke plants and get drunk on happiness. Some of them stayed to grow up, tend farms and earn a modest living. As time went on, the beauty of Saint Christopher Mountain became more and more splendid.
The people of the Earth were worried that too many people would want to live on their beautiful mountain, and that they would bring their trash and problems to the land, and spoil it forever. They held a sweat lodge to call on the spirit of the Mountain. The built a large fire and steamed rocks in the center of a large circle. They wove animal hides through a beam of branches, and built a sturdy, prayer lodge where the wise ones would sit and chant until the Great Spirit of the Mountain awoke.
After three days of prayer, the Great Spirit arose and told the people of the Earth that she would protect the land, the animals and the people of the earth by placing a charm on the mountain. The only people who would be able to stay would be those who were willing to lead a poor, but modest life of good intention, to the earth and the people around them. The Great Spirit thanked the wise ones for their concern by blessing them with a bounty of corn and yams at the following harvest.
Since then, the people of the Earth have been relieved to see that the Great Spirit has kept her promise. The city that is now called Taos is kept small and maintained by a happy but poor, motley group of citizens who have arisen out of the three battling groups. As long as the charm is held intact by prayers and acts of charity among the three groups, nobody has to worry about the greed and filth of the human race overtaking San Christopher Mountain again. The people live happily among the plants and animals, and peace prevails.