Medicine Wheel - United States

In December 2001, a federal judge ruled in favor of a Historic Preservation Plan that protects the Bighorn Medicine Wheel and Medicine Mountain in Wyoming, a site considered sacred to Native Americans.

Petroglyph National Monument - United States

The conflict surrounding the estimated 24,000 petroglyphs — ancient carved rock images — west of Albuquerque, N.M., demonstrates that even a national monument is not safe when it comes to suburban development.

Alto Purús - Peru

Deep in the remote upper reaches of the Peruvian Amazon, the region known as the Alto Purús has a history of natural-resource exploitation that has brought death and displacement to its indigenous communities.

Kahoʻolawe - United States

For decades, the sacred Hawaiian island of Kahoʻolawe, the physical incarnation of the sea god Kanaloa, was wracked by explosions set off by the U.S. Navy. In 1976 activists occupied the island in protest, making headlines across the country.

Mount Sinai - Egypt

In the remote and rugged high desert of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula lies a land with immense historical and spiritual significance to the world’s three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Jerusalem - Israel

There are many who contend that there is something inherently sacred about places that cultures adopt as holy sites. Of all the Earth’s sacred places, this idea seems most embodied in the city of Jerusalem.

Yucca Mountain - United States

For more than two decades, the Shoshone and Paiute peoples, scientists, environmentalists, the federal government, Nevada citizens and politicians have wrestled over the fate of Yucca Mountain.