The animals, brothers of man and possessors of a secret wisdom, as the American Indian saw them. An example of ecological solidarity and universal fraternity. The American Indian had a very special relationship with animals. For one part he needed to hunt them down to live, but on the other, the animals were his brothers-children, like him, from Mother Earth-and they possessed some characteristics and wisdom that he endeavored to assimilate. The animals were manifestations of archetypal spirits, which revealed themselves to the red skin when it, practicing fasting and solitude, obtained the vision in which some animal communicated a message or a teaching. Some animals, such as bison, provided the Indian with almost everything he needed to live-carne, skins for tents and clothes, bones for utensils, etc.-and the Indian, always conscious of his duty of gratitude, had a special veneration . In fact, the relation of the red skin to the animals is a particular case of its relation with Nature in general, made of reverence, solidarity and deep awareness of its sacred dimensions.