The life of the people the Europeans found inhabiting this continent was rooted in the Earth. They lived in daily contact with Earth’s creatures and most of their life was spent under the sky. The hills and mountains were special places; sacred places where they went to receive their vocations or anew their assurance and strength. To the Native person, the whole Earth was one community of spirit, to be treated with respect and reverence. Even so-called inanimate things such as rocks, share that living community.

To Native people, animals were their brothers - creatures of the same spirit. Even though they had to kill them at times, they did so only after their permission, with respect and restraining. So close is the kinship of all things to the Native mind, that to destroy or despoil any part of the universe is to strike a blow at one’s self - the Earth is one body and when one member suffers, all the others suffer with it.