And rather than "living in harmony" with "nature" they exploited it just as any other human tribes did. They just didn't have the technology to do it as efficiently and totally as the "Europeans" were learning to do.
They weren't a bunch of idiots, they had a well-developed way of living, farming, healing, etc. and they had all the technology that was required. They didn't overhunt, overgrow, overfish etc. as they respected the land and plant and animal life. They knew how delicate and important the balance of nature is and respected that.
They were clean and healthy, bathed, and as such didn't have many diseases that roamed across Europe, killing thousands.
It is white man that trashed everything worldwide, not the people that lived there prior to their arrival.
They brought their diseases with them, even deliberately caused diabetes among the olden people by given them loads of sugar.
White man stank as they weren't healthy and clean, thinking that bathing more than once a year would kill them.
White man's greed has spread across the planet like a disease. Rainforests -the lungs of our world- have and are being trashed, oceans and air polluted, and the 455 nuclear plants -with more to come- are enough to ruin our planet 100 times over.
And yet most white man still hasn't learnt to respect the planet that is our home. We still take what we can without thinking about the long-term consequences.
Once there were some 30 million bison in America. White man came, almost killing the whole lot for money. Greed. There's a photo of a proud hunter in front a meters high pile of bison skulls. Disgusting!
Now there are barely 30.000 wild bison left...
It's white man's patriarchal system that came in the guise of Christianity that has wreaked havoc all over the world.
Fact we had superior weapons to get away with it doesn't mean we had superior lifestyles or superior brains. It's the other way round and it's taken us a couple thousands years to begin to realise that our way of life isn't too smart.
Our own white man's legacy is now upon us.