Many Indians believe that there are spirits inside animals and plants as well as each human being. Spirits sometimes leave the bodies of their host even while they are alive. They can act as benign protectors, but they can also cause disease and death by blowing invisible darts. Shamans are Indians who can communicate with the spirit world. They do this by dreaming or by using hallucinogenic drugs.
Shamans can find out what has angered the spirits and are believed to be able to cure disease.
Greed or lack of respect for nature can arouse the wrath of spirits in the forest and bring disaster on families or even whole peoples. There are such a wide variety of Indian societies that it is hard to generalise about them. They range from settled villages with large numbers of people and elaborate dwellings to nomads living in bands of 30-40 moving every few days without need of permanent houses or canoes. Cooperation is central to Indian societies. Many people live in villages and each individual contributes to daily activities by hunting, gathering, looking after the gardens or preparing food.