3.3.2 Power and Money

How should contemporary society respond to the legacies of historical globalization?


Power: Before European settlement, Aboriginal tribes had their own systems of government. Some groups were more highly structured than others. Some chose their leaders on the basis of hunting skills or leadership abilities. Others had hereditary leaders, sometimes through the mothers of the families. Frequently, decisions were made by consensus. In some tribes, women had roles in decision-making.

The Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy, is a tribe of six First Nations tribes in eastern Canada and the US. They banded together for mutual benefit centuries ago.

Some historians believe that the democratic principles of the Haudenosaunee influenced the writing of the constitution of the United States.

Great Law of Peace: The history of the Haudenosaunee is an oral tradition that also is recounted in the beads of the
wampum
beads (usually purple or white and made of rounded seashells) strung together or woven into a belt originally used as a memory aid in oral history, a badge of office, and a ceremonial device

When Europeans came to the Americas, they mistook wampum for money. Soon, they were trading with the native peoples of New England and New York using wampum. Dutch colonists began to manufacture their own wampum.
wampum belt. Wampum belts describe all the treaties signed by the people and the colonial governments of France, England, and the Netherlands. They are governed under an oral constitution called the "Great Law of Peace".

The Great Law of Peace included

  • a male leader from each of the six tribes
  • leaders chosen by the clan mother who could remove this representative if she lost confidence in him
  • military leaders not allowed to serve on the Grand Council
  • council working together for the benefit of the entire Haudenosaunee nation into the seventh generation

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These political systems were very different from the systems of both the French and the English where decision-making was in the hands of the rich and powerful, the common person had no say, and women had no voting rights.

Loss of control for Aboriginal People: When the British and French colonized Canada, they took control of the land and people. The Aboriginal people lost control over their own affairs and were ruled by the government of Canada.

  • Aboriginal people could not vote until 1961.
  • Women had no voice in government.
  • Decisions affecting Aboriginal people were made by other people.
  • This loss of political power led to the
    assimilation
    Where an ethnic group loses its distinctiveness in terms of language and culture and becomes absorbed into a majority culture.

    For example, First Nations tribes were assimilated into the dominant white European culture of Canada in imperialist times. In Canada today, visible minorities have experienced slower assimilation than in many other countries because of Canada's official government policy of multiculturalism. Immigrants often choose to assimilate in order to fit in, while groups like the Aboriginal people were forced to assimilate.
    assimilation of native people.

Money:
globalization
Globalization is the process by which people around the world are becoming increasingly interconnected through trade, the media and migration. It has both positive and negative effects on individuals and societies.
Globalization occurs when nations become interconnected. In the past, nations became interconnected through buying and selling goods and services.

The growth of capitalism was an important cause of
imperialism
Domination by one or more countries over others in order to gain power and wealth.

It can be take place through the use of weapons, economic control or political power by a powerful nation.

Economic imperialism is when a powerful nation or a powerful corporation takes control of another country in order to make money for itself.

Cultural imperialism takes place when a dominant culture overpowers another culture.
imperialism. An economic system that focuses on private ownership and competition for wealth,
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of property, which focuses on the accumulation of wealth and competition in a free market.
capitalism spread around the world because powerful European empires wanted to become richer by establishing colonies. They took gold, silver, spices, lumber, fish, furs, and agricultural products from their colonies and sold them at home or to others, before or after manufacturing into various goods.

Capitalism has positive and negative effects. The map shows world currencies.

  • Positive: European colonialists increased their own wealth through capitalism. They obtained products such as coffee, tobacco, and cocoa from South America and spices and cotton from Asia. They provided jobs and income to the people they employed. They brought technology to other countries to improve industrial production and their own lives. Some people believe that the Indigenous people of all colonized nations live a much better life today than they did before colonization.

  • Negative: Many Indigenous people lost their livelihoods when their traditional lands were taken and their lifestyles had to change. Increasing consumption led to greater destruction of the environment. Capitalism allowed rich nations to control and dominate less-developed nations. Some believe that capitalism exploited people in these nations to such a degree that they are worse off now than they were before imperialist times.