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Content: In other words, the Indians were not an alien race of impossibly
wonderful people. They were human just like the rest of us. And in that
lies hope. Wisdom derives from way of life, and is as fragile as nature. Many
Indians shared their animism, their respect for nature and their
attitude to the land with other hunter-gatherers. But when ways of life
change, beliefs change to support them. The advent of agriculture and
then industry brought massive shifts in attitudes to nature (see 
How we fell
from unity.) Beliefs can also change ways of life. Our present way of life is
laying waste to the environment that supports us. New beliefs can help
us to change that way of life, and in arriving at those beliefs, we can
learn immensely from the beliefs of the North American Indians.