These really rough, hard-core, no-nonsense, work-hard people on the Native American fire crews would treat every piece they found with such reverence. It wasn’t an inanimate object; it was a very animate, very personal thing. They understand that everything around us is a living, breathing being that we cooperate with. It made me appreciate my heritage, what these people sacrifice, and how special this experience was to them. —John Herrington, the first Native American astronaut
