They often express a sense of community and ethnicity. They teach openness toward those who are different than we are. To the extent that the arts teach empathy, they develop our capacity for compassion and humaneness. While intelligence can be used as a tool of greed and deception, empathy intercedes, reining in such uses of intelligence. When we listen to the lyrical loneliness of an American-Indian flute sounding an ancient melody, the sounds evoke the spirit of the tribe.
Indian dances have the same effect.
By experiencing an actuality of their civilization, we learn that American tribal peoples often have been wrongfully and demeaningly stereotyped. There is a near miracle here because as soon as we have a glimpse of other people's humanity, we have crossed the cultural chasm that separates us. Because people define themselves through their artistic expressions, these expressions communicate their human essence. This is why the arts serve as major ways we identify with those who came before us and those who live beside us. The arts teach respect.