HIST 3531 Lecture Notes - Crop Rotation, Barter, Childbirth
21 Oct 2013
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Hunting and gathering: relied on for survival, west coast, mild climate lots of seafood, settled down in villages, men did the hunting/waged war/make weapons, women did pretty much everything else. Every 15 years everyone had to pack up and move to a new site. In these farming nations women worked the field: they planted and cultivated the crop, women also engaged in craft/artisanal labour. Trade: most first nations were not self-sufficient and relied on trade with other tribes, trade was carried through a complex of rules, trade usually took the form of gift giving. Elaborate ceremonies and speeches that spoke to mutual friendship between these tribes: one never haggled over price. Considered unfriendly and hostile: generosity highly valued. Demonstrating generosity was a way to earn respect amongst your peers: reciprocity, social events involved with a round of feasting. Receiving tribe would hold the feast: potlatch feasts- most elaborate on the west coast, lack of generosity was frowned upon.
