Indigenous Americans of the Pacific Coast
Yurok, Karin, and Hupa had money, inheritance, and a work ethic
Peoples of Northern California, including the Yurok, Karin, and Hupa, had money in a sense that we would understand. It could be used to buy or lease private property.
Most other "Indian money" like wampum or beads, was a European projection. Pre-colonization, these resources could only used to pay fines and remember agreements. The Europeans made their mistaken understanding real by accepting wampum and beads in trade.
The Yurok, Karin, and Hupa allowed inheritance, and thus established some durable hierarchies between rich and poor families.
These Californians also had an ethic of work, thrift and simplicity that closely resembled Max Weber's Protestant Ethic. But they didn't develop capitalism. Wealth couldn't be turned into more wealth.
Contrast with: Calvinists invented capitalism in defiance of their neighbors.
Potlatch
The potlatch was celebrated from the Klamath to the Copper Rivers. It was a "grease feast." Potlatch was held to celebrate a noble's new title, which was a frequent occurrence.
They featured acts of generosity meant to crush rivals. They often culminated in destruction, including breaking heirloom copper shields and eating slaves.
Slavery among the Kwakiutl
On the Pacific Northwest coast, including among the Kwakiutl, slaves made up about 25% of the population. Similar to the ratio in the Roman Empire and classical Athens.
Note: Graeber and Wengrow also claim this was the same share as the American Plantation South. But that's not true.
- In Georgia, slaves went from 19% in 1750 to 44% of the population in 1860 CE.
- In Virginia, slaves generally made up around 40% of the population, declining to 30% by 1860 CE.
- In 1860 CE, slaves made up more than 50% of the population of Mississippi and South Carolina.
The Kwakiutl institution of slavery was developed, in part, to deal with the bounty of anadromous fish (like salmon). Bulk harvesting involved intensive labor. Both bulk harvesting and the first signs of warfare and forts (as well as ornate burials) emerge around 1850 BCE.
Elites put themselves above fishing. But this made them dependent on transient commoners. If they were insufficiently generous, or took too much tribute, the commoners would switch nobles. Slavery provided a solution that worked for both elites and commoners. Slaves were a captive labor source consistent with the noble's self-conception of superiority and the commoner's freedom of movement.
Similarly, Kwakiutl elites would never chop wood. In contrast, Californians had few slaves and made chopping wood for the sauna a sacred duty.
(Ethnographer of the Kwakiutl: Franz Boas.)
Californians had few slaves
Yurok, Karin, and Hupa kept some, temporary slaves from wars and debt-peonage. Limited slavery may have developed as a compromise that allowed the Californians to resist the fuller violence of their northern neighbors.
Southern Californians, like the Maidu, Wintu, and Pomo, burned money at death, had no slaves, and few conflicts turned into wars. War was unprofitable because the victors were required to pay compensation for everyone they killed.
(Ethnographer: Goldschmidt on the Yurok. Alfred Kroeber.)
The Chetco refused to own slaves
The Chetco of Southern Oregon consciously rejected slavery. Their myths warned of the dangers of slave-ownership.
In the Chetco's origin story, they canoed down from the north, wiped out the other warlike group, and enslaved the pacifist (and light-skinned) Wogies. They grew fat on the Wogies labor and skill. When the Wogies ran away, the "lazy" Chetco were unable to chase them. This was meant as a lesson on the physical and moral degradation that comes with slave-ownership.
They called Europeans "Wogies" also because of their light-skin. Some Chetco survivors viewed European genocide as retribution for their past sins of slavery.
In another anti-slavery myth, a famous leader defeats an invading slaver group. Instead of enslaving them, the leaders sets his opponents and their slaves free. And he poignantly refuses to let the newly freed slaves carry his boat to the water.