Pre-European Political and Economic Organizations of the First Nations and Inuit People

The peoples of the Northwest Coast lived a sedentary life along the shores of the Pacific Ocean. This pattern of settlement is associated with chiefdoms, social hierarchies, and work specialization. The chief led over 150 to 200 people within his clan. The clan included a core family, extended family, adopted members, and slaves. Hereditary nobles held the highest social position. Lower on the scale were commoners specializing in hunting, gathering, artisan work, and trade. The keeping of slaves was practiced in Northwest Coast societies, and these slaves were subject to the control of the higher classes. Appointment of leaders occurred through the matrilineal line, which means the chief's oldest sister's son (or eldest nephew) would be the next chief. A war chief and a town chief ruled the clan. Each clan member was born into a caste system, which was unique to this region. Social ranking followed a line of chiefs, nobles, commoners, and slaves with specific grading within these classes. The status of slave was also inherited. A slave was a captured enemy or an individual who has lost status due to debt. Slaves had no civil rights and could legally be put to death by a master. Status or lineage was inherited and provided entitlement to resources, fishing spots, hunting or collecting areas, and house sites. This political system developed approximately 3,000 to 2,500 years ago. The chief's immediate family controlled and distributed goods of lineage property, which was often adorned with family symbols indicating entitlement.

The potlatch, an intricate part of the political and economic patterns of the Northwest cultures, was a gathering of invited guests who feasted and danced. In addition to annual celebrations, the appointment of a leader, the death of a family member, a marriage celebration, or a victory over an enemy were some of the reasons to hold a potlatch. The tradition of potlatch was also enjoyed as a social function and family gathering. The major event of a chief's lifetime was the raising of his family's totem and the building of his family's house.

The number of goods and territory he was able to give away at a potlatch celebration measured a chief's power. When high-ranking guests returned the favour by holding their own potlatches, they were expected to give even more lavishly. Otherwise, they would be shamed. A chief who impoverished himself through lavish potlatch giving and feasting could, therefore, count on this wealth being returned, and even increased when he attended subsequent potlatches as a guest. But the distribution of material wealth was only one element in the potlatch ceremony. The main reason for every potlatch was to confirm in public that an individual's social status had changed. A chief might, therefore, give a potlatch when his daughter came of age, or when his heir assumed one of the ancestral hereditary titles. Attending and accepting a gift at a funeral potlatch meant that guests accepted the succession of power. The potlatch system was a means of rising on the social scale and re-distributing wealth. The system ensured no free person of the clan starved or lived without essential goods.

Aggressive warfare was used to obtain greater social ranking, new hunting territories, or slaves. Although the potlatch served as a forum for peaceful meditations so as to avoid feuding or warfare, conflicts between competing groups were common. Raids on enemy villages were often conducted from the sea. Warriors, armed with war clubs and lances, attacked from decorated war canoes. They protected themselves with body armour fashioned out of wood and hide materials. Wooden slat breast plates protected warriors during battle, as did coats made from the thick hides of sea lions or layers of elk skin. A round wooden helmet with a visor completed the battle gear. These warriors fought in the name of their ancestral families and for the clan chief.

Hierarchical leaders controlled the ownership of agricultural goods and resources and the means of transportation. A surplus of these goods precipitated the desire to exchange raw materials for finished goods. The Haidan peoples of Haida Gwaii were proficient artisans and a system evolved in which the Tsimshian on the mainland exchanged raw materials, such as goat's wool, for the finished work of Haidan artisans, such as blankets.

Trade networks along the Northwest Coast were active from at least 4,000 years ago. One common trade item was eulachon oil, the production of which took about three weeks. The fish were left a few days to ripen in wooden chests. Once the fish oil began to appear at the top of the decaying mass, hot stones would be applied to hasten the extraction process. Traditionally, the women pressed the oil by squeezing the rotting fish against their chests and letting it run into bags made from the intestines of sea mammals. Eulachon oil was traded along the Pacific Coast region where the diversity of languages made it necessary to adopt a universally-understood trade language called Chinook Jargon. Individuals who specialized in trade and understood the language traveled "grease trails," or trade routes, from village to village.

At the time of initial European contact, the Plains buffalo culture had been established for thousands of years. Groups of extended families travelled together and joined seasonal camps for hunting, food gathering, and celebrations. These seasonal gatherings also served a social function. Plains peoples met for games and gambling, and they also renewed social ties. Councils and ceremonies were held for men's and women's societies. Women who were respected for their skills in crafts or hunting were consulted for their wisdom. Younger or less experienced women sought them as teachers and guides. The political leadership of these seasonal camps was based upon a system of consent. Family and peers considered each other primarily as equals and the leader held no power beyond influence. He was chosen because he was well respected within the community and because he was also an exceptional hunter. The Poundmaker was the winter village chief.

A unified armed force guarded against other bands killing bison within a given area. Peace negotiations were performed with ceremonial pipes, which solidified bonds or decisions. But if peaceful solutions failed, a war was waged for territorial, political, and revenge issues. Conflicts on the Plains were common but there were few casualties. On the Plains, war pits were dug so as to allow warriors to fight while under cover. Men were killed in battle, and enemy women and children were captured during warfare and adopted.

There developed a code of ritualized fighting, called "counting coup", which involved striking an enemy with a special stick. The game was judged on the degree of difficulty and danger a warrior faced when getting close enough to the enemy to actually land a blow. "Counting Coup" was also the term used to describe warriors recounting their exploits in battle. The greatest achievement for a warrior was stealing an enemy's weapons. Young males trying to establish their warrior status carried out raids on enemy camps. Men belonged to military warrior societies, which were formed around the image and character of an animal spirit. The wearer of the Buffalo headdress did not back down in battle. A headdress of feathers and scalps symbolized the defeat of an enemy in hand-to-hand combat and taking of the loser's scalp. A warrior with a headdress and scalp was entitled to marry and establish a household. A headdress that flowed down to the ground indicated that the wearer was a candidate for chief.

First Nations Inquiry Resources

The Plateau peoples lived in band societies that formed and dispersed with seasonal activities. Chiefs were appointed to these seasonal villages. Although the appointment may be inherited from a father, a new chief was required to prove his worthiness to the band. The chief's influence over the band was limited to suggestion or recommendation, although he could create alliances with outside groups. Intermarriage was practiced to solidify these political and economic unions. Slaves, particularity women, were taken during warfare and often married to their captors. Despite their close trading ties with the coast, the Interior Salish groups did not adopt Northwest Coast class systems. Rather, each small group of several related families recognized the authority of a hereditary chief. An informal council of elders assisted the chief. The Kootenay followed a similar system, whereby each group had a hereditary leader supported by a council of elders. A special chief was elected both for the annual buffalo hunt across the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and for the times the Kootenay were at war, particularly with the Blackfoot. Hunting territory belonged to the group as a whole, although some families laid claim to specific fishing stations and berry-picking grounds. Individuals specialized in certain skills such as tanning or basket making.

Trade and warfare were often interlinked activities, access to preferred fishing territories being the object of warfare and trade. A key fishing territory protected the salmon suppliers from attack because they were central to providing salmon for neighboring bands. Trade systems were often networked around preferred fishing sites. The advantaged group could then act as middlemen and exchange captives between warring groups. A system of conflict and exchange was utilized to gain economic control over a territory. The valuable fishing platforms used during the harvesting of spring salmon were passed from father to eldest son through a daughter or other female family member.

The Plateau peoples participated in trade with Pacific Coast groups. Amongst the Interior Salish, the Lillooet became the chief intermediary in coastal trade. They shipped dried berries, tanned skins, and mountain goat wool to the coast. In return, they received seashells and dugout canoes. Dried, preserved fish, rather than fresh fish, was the preferred commodity. The salmon taken from the Fraser River was prized because it was high in fat and air-dried. Lillooet peoples who had fishing territories along the Fraser River traded salmon for trout from the Thompson and Kuntani (Kootenay). Dried salmon and salmon oil were exchanged for goods such as dentalium shells, dried seafood, and coastal woods and berries from the Pacific Coast bands. The favorable trade position of certain Plateau groups, such as the Lillooet and Canyon Shuswap, enabled their members to accumulate wealth.

Communities also exchanged ideas and values regarding social systems, technologies, and economies, in addition to goods. In exchange for skins and moccasins, for example, the Carrier tribe obtained cedar boxes and blankets woven by the Alaskan Chilkat people from the Bella Coola and Tsimshian of the Pacific Coast. As a result of these transactions, the Carrier assimilated the stratified social system of the Pacific Coast tribes and began restructuring their population into nobles, commoners, and slaves. Intermarriage with the Tsimshian helped strengthen this process. Both the Chilcotin and the Tahltan adopted similar social systems: the Chilcotin through their fur trade with the coastal Bella Coola, and the Tahltan by way of trade activities with the Alaskan Tlingit of the Pacific Coast.

At the time of European contact in the fifteenth century, the peoples of the Great Lakes region were organized into well-defined political alliances. The Northern Algonquians had a looser organization. The government of these Northeastern Woodland cultures functioned as a three-tier political system, consisting of the village council, national council, and the confederacy council. The main objective of this political system was to maintain communal harmony and ensure the subsistence of the people. A position of power and responsibility was achieved through consent rather than coercion. Therefore, no hierarchical-based central governing authority existed. Instead, groups banded together in political and social alliances. Annual meetings of the Confederacy Council strengthened economic and political ties. A village council, composed of all the leaders of a village, met daily. Discussions often carried on late into the night until council members reached a satisfactory agreement. The council body was made up of men but required the approval of women. Chiefs were demoted if female elders deemed them unfit. Each clan was ruled by two different leaders, the civil chief, and the war chief. The civil chief was chosen for qualities like intelligence, ability to speak for the group, generosity, and performance as a warrior. The civil leader was responsible for all local and domestic affairs, such as organizing communal work tasks.

In the fifteenth century, the Iroquoians formed an alliance that was known as the League of Five Nations. Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Seneca were the original nation members. The Tuscarora joined later and the political union became the Six Nations Confederacy. Each nation within the union had a set number of chiefs or sachems who attended the council. When one of the league's fifty chiefs died, the clan matron chose a successor in consultation with other women of her clan. If the person who was chosen proved unsatisfactory, his position as chief could be revoked by the clan mother. The Iroquois called this process "dehorning the chief" because the deer antlers that signified his office were taken away. Decisions were consensual, and the chiefs had to agree to each as if they were of one heart, one mind, and one law. The league itself was symbolized by the longhouse, with the Mohawk guarding the east door, the Onondaga tending the hearth, and the Seneca guarding the west door. Flanking the Onondaga at the central hearth were the Cayuga on the south wall and the Oneida on the north. Although the Six Nations Confederacy was built on this philosophy of unity and collective decision making, each nation was ultimately free to take its own course of action.

Warfare was open to negotiation within the nation and engaged only with the consensus of the elders. A family member killed in battle entitled the family to seek revenge on captured prisoners from the enemy band. Increased warfare also increased incidences of cannibalism and torture, which were carried out in ritualized ceremonies. Women and children captured in battle were adopted. Frequent warfare between the Iroquois and the Huron necessitated protection. The Huron built elaborate palisades (a fence made of wooden stakes) to help keep out their enemies. These palisades consisted of as many as three tightly-set rows of upright posts. Varying in height from five to eleven metres, these poles were often securely interlaced with branches and bark. At the top of the palisades, a balcony was positioned to provide space for warriors. From these balconies, warriors could shoot arrows, drop rocks on those attempting to scale the walls or throw water to extinguish fires set by the enemy.

Semi-sedentary agricultural lifeways contributed to population increases, which did not occur because of increased food from a trade, but rather local food diversity. Huron and Iroquois crop cultivation were so extensive that they operated as the granary for northern groups. Items bartered included corn, cornmeal, and tobacco in exchange for prime animal pelts and porcupine quills. In addition to direct trade with their allies and the Northern Algonquians, the Huron monopolized all the Petun or Tobacco nation's trading activities, acting as middlemen and profiting from the bartering activities. A monetary unit called wampum was made from coastal shell beads and was strung or woven into belts or collars. It was used for purchasing goods and was a symbol of wealth. Wampum held not only economic value but also spiritual power. Transportation routes are an important element in the trade networks, and a small number of families controlled the trade by controlling the routes, but wealth was distributed to maintain balance.

Adapting to the diverse climates of the Canadian Shield required different types of lifeways. Some Algonquian bands lived in semi-sedentary villages while others lived a nomadic existence following the caribou or bison herds. All of these bands lived as a community of consent with no central political hierarchy. Mutual co-operation was expected between neighbouring bands. Seasonal groups consisted of twenty to thirty people (four to eight closely related families), and these groups organized together when a specific task had to be carried out. A trapping party might consist of four to eight families with a leader and a support leader. A fish camp consisted of ten to thirty families. Winter hunting bands were comprised of twenty-five people related by familial ties or marriage. A meat or winter camp consisted of ten to thirty families. When boreal forest groups gathered for summer camp, a respected man was appointed the leader. This situational leader was expected to meet the following criteria: a married elder, a good hunter, generous, an excellent orator, and conciliator. Decisions made by the leader are made by consent of those affected. Within a single band, a senior elder directed the group in consultation with a council. His death would often dissolve the band.

Raids against other communities were usually carried out over territorial hunting conflicts. Neighbouring bands were invited to join a war party with a gift of pipe and tobacco. The ambush, guerrilla warfare style of the fighting took advantage of forest cover. Prized war booty usually consisted of weapons, boats, clothing, and hides. A warrior who brought home these stolen goods acquired wealth and status. Canadian Shield groups also fought each other for goods and women, and revenge issues were also the motivation for battle. The Chipewyan peoples considered the Inuit their enemy and conflicts were often based on long-standing feuds.

Canadian Shield First Nations helped each other in the completion of work. Groups, usually of one sex, formed to complete a specific task. This concept of forming task groups was also practiced within the individual bands. In order to survive, local hunting and gathering practices required equal effort from all members of the band. The food gathered by women was an essential contribution to a balanced seasonal food supply. Blueberries and cranberries were gathered and dried for use in the winter, but the extra was also picked for trade.

Trade networks ran north to south through Canadian Shield territories. Boreal forest hunters traded meat for agricultural goods from the Great Lakes region. There was also a flourishing trade in medicinal herbs. The medicine trade involved remedies for coughs, colds, aches, pains, burns, and cuts. The Cree gained a reputation as respected healers.

The Arctic Thule cultures were organized as band societies, which consisted of a network of family units. Men established partnerships with other men so they could work together sharing and protecting each other's families. This partnership recognized a communal lifeway on the local band level. Within the union of families, men and women shared, hunted, traded, danced and exchanged spouses. The wife exchange was temporary and considered a co-marriage. Children from the temporary union were recognized as the siblings of the first spouse's children. During a season of poor hunting, the partnership may break up and the families separate for a better chance of survival. A leader who is best suited is chosen, but once this leader no longer displays the necessary traits for leadership the family no longer follows him. In some cases, the family may break up. The annual or semi-annual gatherings were an opportunity to collectively gather resources and to create partnerships or solidify alliances. The summer gatherings were a time for ritual dances, gift exchanges, games, storytelling, and renewing family ties. Often during these gatherings children were promised in marriage.

The Thule peoples had firm possession of the Arctic region and were unchallenged until European contact. The First Nations of the southern areas rarely infringed upon Thule lands. Groups within the Thule culture claimed territorial rights to preferred fishing or hunting sites. These territorial rights were closely defended because the food sources collected there would support only small numbers of individuals.

The caribou hunt occurred in the late summer and fall. The meat, bones, and antlers provided food, tools, fuel, and clothing. Surplus food was traded, but this was not a common practice. Materials prospected and traded were jade, carving ivory, and bone. Jade artifacts are located throughout the territories associated with the Dorset culture. Flint, chert, slate, and obsidian were traded as raw materials. Microblades, or small cutting tools, were cut from crystalline quartz, which was also the ideal material for crafting scraper blades or harpoon tips. Soapstone was traded and utilized in the manufacture of cooking pots, seal oil lamps, beads, and tobacco pipes. Pure copper and iron were beaten flat and traded throughout Arctic Canada. A band was very fortunate to locate a jade deposit in its territory because the jade's value would increase as it moved farther from its point of origin.

Go to The Roots of Tradition Assignment.

Remember that you will use your Google Docs account from Red Deer Catholic Schools (@rdcrs.ca account). All of your assignments need to be created using Google. Do not cut and paste your assignments from Word to Google! Google allows the teacher to see a time stamped revision history of all of your work; thus, this authenticates that it is your work.

This link will take you back to the page that explains how to submit an assignment. 

Go to Political and Economic Adaptation and/or Interdependence Assignment.

Remember that you will use your Google Docs account from Red Deer Catholic Schools (@rdcrs.ca account). All of your assignments need to be created using Google. Do not cut and paste your assignments from Word to Google! Google allows the teacher to see a time stamped revision history of all of your work; thus, this authenticates that it is your work.

This link will take you back to the page that explains how to submit an assignment.