I wrote a diary on the rise of cancers among First Nations peoples for this last Monday Night Cancer Club. It sparked quite the conversation. I learned that there is also a misconception that the First Nations peoples had no sense of "science," as defined by a couple of commenters generally as the mode of study wherein a person formulates a hypothesis, builds a study and then publishes that study and it's finding for peer review. This style of science comports with how most Westerners are taught to view "science," and is one version of science. But, it is not the only version of science.
For centuries, many First Nations peoples have practiced their own version of science, based on observation and testing of hypotheses based on observations. Many First Nations peoples have had very able scientists on a wide range of disciplines. Some First Nations peoples employed these scientific findings to increase agricultural harvests, increase the efficiency of hunting practices and even woven them into traditions as to how to live more in concert with their environments.