The Sunrise and the Concept of Renewal
The sunrise is pregnant with powerful and rejuvinating meaning, both literal and metaphorical.
Each new sunrise brings forth a new day, and affirms the eternal cycle of life sustained by the sun and the earth. This is a cycle of continuous and daily renewal. Each sunrise brings a fresh beginning. This dynamic and cyclical concert of life is sustained and renewed by the complementary asymmetry of Mother Earth and Father Sun. This constantly rejuvenating pattern of ebb and flow, night and day, cold and warm, dark and light, male and female, below and above provides a daily renewal of the dynamic concert of life on the earth's surface.

Native Peoples of the Southwest celebrated the sunrise on a daily basis. The youth were taught to get up each morning before the sun was up and run to the East to greet the rising sun with a song and a prayer. This was a daily ritual of celebration and renewal. This ritual also involved dipping naked in a pool or stream of water or sprinkling oneself with water from a jug when there was no nearby pool of water. The Zuni Sunrise Song comes from this tradition.

The Concept of Emergence
Although there is great diversity in the languages and cultures of the Native Peoples of the Southwest, the concept of emergence is one that is common to nearly all of these peoples. Click here for more about the sunrise and the concept of emergence.

Summer Solstice Sunrise includes four versions:
• 12 minute — abbreviated version with Zuni Sunrise Song by Johnny Witherspoon
• 26 minute — abbreviated version with music by Gary Witherspoon, Jr.
• 52 minute — full length version with music by Gary Witherspoon, Jr.
• 52 minute — full length version with natural sounds only
All four soundtracks are in complete surround sound, using Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
NTSC version (no country encoding)