The clan is nothing more than a larger family, with its patriarchal chief as the natural head, and the union of several clans by intermarriage and voluntary connection constitutes the tribe.
From Charles Eastman
The religion of the Indian is the last thing about him that the man of another race will ever understand.
Nearness to nature... keeps the spirit sensitive to impressions not commonly felt and in touch with the unseen powers.
The elements and majestic forces in nature, Lightning, Wind, Water, Fire, and Frost, were regarded with awe as spiritual powers, but always secondary and intermediate in character.
Friendship is held to be the severest test of character. It is easy, we think, to be loyal to a family and clan, whose blood is in your own veins.
Love between a man and a woman is founded on the mating instinct and is not free from desire and self-seeking. But to have a friend and to be true under any and all trials is the mark of a man!
There were no temples or shrines among us save those of nature.
There was no religious ceremony connected with marriage among us, while on the other hand the relation between man and woman was regarded as in itself mysterious and holy.
The red man divided mind into two parts, - the spiritual mind and the physical mind.
The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity.
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