They thought that they were very important to them not only were they their food when hunted but also they thought of them as spirits who provided for them.
Native American storied usually always depict nature as something to be afraid of (But it's sort of like religious people believe you should be "afraid" of God.) The only reason Native American do this is because they understand nature is uncontrollable and powerful I know this because my dad is Cherokee
The sentence is an example of a cause and effect reasoning. It helps to stablish the relationship between an event that comes first, and the one that takes place after the former. This type of reasoning provides the necessary information and details to understand why certain events happens as they do.