We don't go to Fort Chicago, said Ta-Kumsaw. We go to the holy place.
A church? asked Alvin.
Ta-Kumsaw laughed. You White people, when you make a place holy you build walls so nothing of the land can get in. Your god is nothing and nowhere, so you build a church with nothing alive inside, a church that could be anywhere, it doesn't matter—nothing and nowhere.
Well what does make a place holy? asked Alvin.
Because that's where the Red man talks to the land, and the land answers.

Chapter 7. - The Tales of Alvin Maker - Red Prophet (1988)