It’s hard to make it through a US history textbook without coming across the silly claim that American Indians were the original environmentalists.

First lady Michelle Obama even repeated it at last week’s gathering of tribal youth. “Long before the United States was even an idea, your ancestors were harvesting the crops that would feed the world for centuries to come,” she said. “Today on issues like conservation and climate change, we are finally beginning to embrace the wisdom of your ancestors.”

Embracing the wisdom of your ancestors? Really? Has Mrs. Obama discovered some ancient Indian text that predicted the melting of the glaciers?

Sorry: There’s little evidence that Indians had any fundamentally different understanding of the environment than any other people on Earth.

Which is to say, when resources were scarce, Native Americans worked to conserve them. When they weren’t, they didn’t.