[Gumlegs]

As RightWhale pointed out, the tribes varied. One thing must be kept in mind, however, and that is that this "good stewards of the Earth" is a lot of rubbish. Indian tribes lived in an area until its resources -- or the ones useful to them -- were exhausted, and then they moved on.

They were usually at war with their neighbors, a fact usually glossed over by present-day romantic views of Native American life. In a sense, this constant warfare helped keep Indian populations in check, so you could say that the Indian's primary natural enemy was himself.

That they remained too few in number to reduce the continent to a waste-land before English settlers got here should not be confused with a modern sensibility regarding the "sanctity of the earth."

[Gumlegs]

"Indian tribes lived in an area" should have read, "Most Indian tribes lived in an area." I believe some tribes, particularly in the Southwest, adopted farming practices and were not nomads.

[Wm Bach]

One thing must be kept in mind, however, and that is that this "good stewards of the Earth" is a lot of rubbish. Indian tribes lived in an area until its resources -- or the ones useful to them -- were exhausted, and then they moved on.

So, basically, they were the neolithic equivalent to the aliens in the movie Independence Day.