Since before Charles Darwin, Sir Isaac Newton, and even Archimedes, Indigenous people have been keen scientific observers of the natural world. For thousands of years, we have documented astronomical events in the heavens above, noted and predicted weather patterns and the changing of the seasons, studied plant medicine and animal behavior, explored our environment, and posited hypotheses.
One of the ways my ancestors discovered medicine was by following bears. They watched the bears so closely that they were able to decipher what ailments the large mammals were afflicted with and, in turn, what roots they ingested to cure themselves.
My ancestors knew the creatures that inhabited their ecosystem so well that they were able to work cooperatively with them, exchanging seeds and beans with field mice to ensure their mutual survival during harsh winters.
Another type of organism that held my Oceti Sakowin (Dakota/Lakota Sioux) ancestors’ fascination were insects. So much so, that one of our deities, Iktomi (the Trickster), often took the form of a spider. While modern scientists would say spiders are technically arachnids, my Native Nation developed its own classification system. And unlike today’s mainstream society, we didn’t demonize insects. We understood that they played a necessary role.