There are many clans spread across Pandora’s diverse environments, each with their own subculture of practices, skills, and histories. Despite their differences, all Na’vi people are ultimately brought together by a shared love and respect for Pandora and its guiding deity, Eywa. One strict creed is followed by all, known as the Three Laws of Eywa. The laws can be translated as:
You shall not set stone upon stone.
Neither shall you use the turning wheel.
Nor use the metals of the ground.
Exactly why or when Eywa decreed these laws is not known, but their message is that actions that would harm the environment are forbidden. Following the Three Laws of Eywa, Na’vi clans create their structures and dwellings from sustainable resources, such as tents and huts constructed of wood, leather, and woven plant fibers, or pre-existing structures such as Hometrees or caves.
Wheels are not used, which would require the cutting down of trees to produce roads for vehicles to traverse Pandora’s dense jungles. The invention of vehicles would also presumably harm the Na’vi’s strong relationship with their animals, such as with pa’li, ilu, and ikran, which have been the Na’vi’s primary means of transport throughout history. For the Na’vi, these vitally important mounts are sacred and so to replace them with wheels would be highly dishonorable.
Metals are not extracted from the ground, which would result in mining and quarrying, causing great harm to the ecosystem. Human interference on Pandora creates a clash between two very different civilizations. The sawtute (humans) break all of Eywa’s sacred laws.
