I read that bit by Charles Eastman with much interests and I thank you for sharing it too.
Many folk brought up in towns or cities are poor observers when I've been with them in the forest or on the lakes and rivers. I noticed this too when in England I went out with two guys and a game preserver/warden (?) and another guy who was really good at identifying wildlife.
The game preserver and the wildlife man were much better observer than the other two.
Why? The other two spent time talking to each other and too little time listening and observing for things they may not notice - we were looking,listening and sometimes smelling for things we might not otherwise see. So we will not look for birds in trees, we will look for signs of them being in trees, such as movement of small branches, the quiet calls birds make when they call each other. Every bird in the UK and Canada has song, alarm calls and contact calls. The game man and wildlife man could hear and see these things even though they could not see the birds and the wildlife man could identify which bird the song and contact calls came from. The other two were looking at the trees for the birds they could not see.
We saw the tracks of fox, deer, badger, voles and mice. The two others could only see them after we told them what we were looking at. They had difficulty seeing their own tracks when we crossed grass fields.
Like Charles Eastman we were brought up to watch, listen and to observe the things which you don't see hear or see when you first look in the forest.
Being alone in the forest at night, or in the daytime, and knowing you are not really alone brings me great peace as it means the forest, or bush as we sometimes call it is no longer a frightening place full of strange noises and smells. It is like being with a friend who you have known a long time.
emjuy!
