Sharing the Land and the Resources First Nations and Trade Economies

A World Without Money  Take time to imagine in detail what our/your lives would be like if we/you had no money to purchase the items we/you did not make.  Discuss your thoughts with your table group.

A World Without Money  Consider the following: 1. Would you be able to survive if you and your family had to produce everything you needed to live? What would you do?

A World Without Money 2. How would you get items that you could not produce?  Discuss your thoughts with you table group + be prepared to share with the class.

What does the word barter mean? Discuss

Barter  Barter is the direct exchange of goods or services without an intervening medium of exchange or money; exchanges occur according to established rates of exchange or through bargaining.

Barter  In the past, goods were exchanged on a one-to-one basis with the intent that the value of the goods traded was of relatively equal value.  Prior to the establishment of currencies, barter was the most accepted form of commerce.

What does the word economy mean? Discuss

Economy  First of all:  Economics is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Economy  Now:  An economy is the realized social system of production, exchange, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of a country or other area.

Economy  In direct relation:  An economic system is a system that involves the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services between the entities in a particular society.

Economy  The economic system is composed of people and institutions, including their relationships to productive resources, such as through the convention of property.  Examples of contemporary economic systems include capitalist, socialist, and mixed economies.

What does the word trade mean? Discuss

Trade  Trade is the willing exchange of goods, services, or both; trade is also called commerce. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market.  The original form of trade was barter - the direct exchange of goods and services.

What does “mediums of exchange” mean? Discuss

Medium of Exchange  A medium of exchange is something that people agree has a value and can be used to exchange goods and services; it allows people to trade without the limitation of bartering.

Medium of Exchange  Modern traders instead generally negotiate through a medium of exchange such as money, as a result, buying can be separated from selling, or earning.

What are some other examples of mediums of exchange that have been used in the past and may still exist today? Discuss

Trade  The invention of money (and later credit, paper money and non-physical money/digital money) greatly simplified and promoted trade.  Trade between two traders is called bilateral trade, while trade between more than two traders is called multilateral trade.

Describe, in a sentence or two, what you think First Nations trade economies may have been like in the past? Discuss

First Nations’ Trade  The First Nations are believed to have been the most active and expert traders of their time in North America.  First Nations societies in British Columbia were self-sufficient hunter gathers and used the resources of their territory to produce the goods they needed. Fur trading rock

First Nations’ Trade  However, they did not live in isolation.  They had complex economies built on trading networks that in some cases stretched from the coast far into the interior. BC First Nations traded with neighbouring villages and with more distant nations.

A Means of Exchange  The wealth created by the salmon harvest allowed many tribes to participate in trade.  Resources available on the coast and in the interior were significantly different, thus the demand for items unavailable locally led to trade that existed for thousands of years.

A Means of Exchange  Surplus food and materials were exchanged for they could not obtain locally.  Two different forms of trade took place: trading for food and materials not available in the home territory and trading for status items.

First Nations’ Trade Economies  First Nations trade economy involved more than gathering resources.  Considerable labour went into many of the products that were traded (i.e. cedar canoes, fibre baskets, furs, oolichan oil).

First Nations’ Trade Economies  Goods were often traded from group to group through one or more intermediaries, so a product’s final destination was often a long distance from its origin.

Understanding Traditional Trade Economies of the First Nations An Activity (#1)

First Nations’ Trade Economies In small groups:  First, summarize the features of First Nations traditional trade economies using Chapter 3 of your textbook.  Then, answer the following FOUR questions: Obsidian Microblades

First Nations’ Trade Economies 1. What types of goods were traded? List these. 2. Which were necessities and which were luxuries? Identify these.

First Nations’ Trade Economies 3. Which items were traded for status? What was their significance/use? 4. Which items were used as mediums of exchange? List these.

The Grease Trails An Activity (#2)

The Grease Trails / The Oolichan Trails  Individually:  Read the handout Grease Trails by the Royal BC Museum and Chapter 3 in your textbook (p ).  Answer the following FOUR questions:

The Grease Trails / The Oolichan Trails 1. What were grease trails? What was their purpose and their importance? 2. How wide were these trails? What was the widest trail in the region? And what was its name?

The Grease Trails / The Oolichan Trails 3. What was oolichan oil traded for and for how much? 4. What happened to the grease trails when Europeans arrived?

Case Study: The Ulkatcho An Activity (#3)

The Ulkatcho  The Ulkatcho region of the West Chilcotin is an ancient land.  The name means “fat of the land”.  The Ulkatcho people belong to the Dakelh (Carrier) language family, but three different cultures have been incorporated into their lifestyle.

Case Study: The Ulkatcho Individually:  Read pages in your textbook.  Use the handout “Blackline Master 3-3: Ulkatcho Region (Map)” to find the locations mentioned in the case study.

Case Study: The Ulkatcho  Using this map, do the following FOUR things: 1. Shade the territories of the neighbouring First Nations. 2. Mark the transportation routes used for trade. What geographical feature do these usually follow?

Case Study: The Ulkatcho 3. Mark special locations where the Ulkatcho gathered to harvest resources and to trade. 4. Mark the location of the source of obsidian.

Case Study: The Ulkatcho In small groups: Discuss the following FOUR questions: 1. What two rare or highly desired commodities did the Ulkatcho trade? 2. How did the Ulkatcho act as intermediaries?

Case Study: The Ulkatcho 3. How do you think the value of the grease changed? 4. What is an example of cultural sharing between the Ulkatcho and their neighbours?

Controlling the Trade  Some First Nations groups became known as traders rather than producers and developed a specialized role as intermediaries in the trading networks.  In some parts of BC, the trading system became quite complex as certain chief’s gained control of trading routes.

Controlling the Trade  Sometimes this control meant that neighbouring people had to pay for passing through a chief’s territory.  Other times control was exerted by building an armed fort, creating trade alliances through marriage, or two tribes would agree on a trade monopoly.

Cross-Cultural Trading Networks An Activity (#4)

Cross-Cultural Trade  In small groups:  Using Blackline Master 3-4 (Venn diagram), list the trade items that the local First Nations traded with other Nations and the goods they received + identify (list) the advantages of trading for both parties.

10,000 Years of Trade Discuss: How could we prove that trade between First Nations people had been going on for at least 10,000 years? Explain. Hint: the trade item is mentioned in Chapter 3 and is one of your vocabulary words.

Perspectives of Education Questions An Activity (#5)

Perspectives on Education: Discuss 1. How did you learn about the world? 2. How much learning took place in school and how much at home? 3. What skills did you learn from a family member or a friend? Brainstorm a list.

First Nations Voices on Education  Individually:  Read the two First Nations Voices sections of pages in your textbook and answer the following THREE questions:

First Nations Voices on Education 1. What do the two individuals have in common? 2. What is meant by “You had to be physically and spiritually fit”? How does this apply to education?

First Nations Voices on Education 3. How is education today similar to and different from what is described in these excerpts?

Next: The Potlatch and Feast System A Backgrounder