The life of Native American peoples revolves around the concept of the sacredness, beauty, power and relatedness of all forms of existence. In short, the ethics or moral values of Native people are part and parcel of their cosmology or total world view. Most Native languages have no word for “religion” and it may be true that a word for religion is never needed until a people no longer have it. As Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman) said: “Every act of his [the Indian’s] life is, in a very real sense, a religious act.”
