Lee Marmon lives in his hometown, Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico. His interest in photography grew while he was serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, while working at his father's trading post, he photographed the main work in this collection, portraits of Laguna elders, which is now with the University of New Mexico.

Tom Corbett is a physician who lived and practiced at Laguna Pueblo in the 1960s. He conceived the idea for this historical book while living among and caring for the Lagunas. It has been a work in progress since that time. He and Lee Marmon have been friends for fifty years.