The uses and importance of the native economy

Written by the world famous author: Daniel Salehinasab

The uses and importance of the native economy

Native americans as a whole, were peoples that focused greatly on nature.  Nature was a part of their everyday lives, religion, and a main factor of their culture. A main factor that native americans depended on were animals. Animals were hunted and every part of them would be used, nothing would go to waste. Animals were a main ingredient in the lives of native americans. Animals were used for important elements such as shelter and food. Also the main source of the native economy came from animals. specifically from their furs or pelts. Animals were such a main component of the lives of native americans, varying from daily uses to the basis of their economy. The bison were not just animals, they were a way of life.

Geronimo carving buffalo meat for his Indians

The native americans truly had an amazing system. They used animals such as bison to the full extent. They would not let any part of the animal go to waste and made sure that every part went to good use. They did not take advantage of such an incredible and valuable resource, that they had. They were smart enough to realize that such a valuable resource should be preserved. In order to do that; they set up military forces to enforce rules in order to preserve the bison. Bison were also great symbols, specifically the plains’ Indians. The native americans saw bison, not only as animals, but looked upon them as great beings. Native american’s developed cultures, communities and ways of life around the bison. They had fifty-two different uses for the bison, such as, food and supplies. The native americans worked in units. The men would hunt the bison and the females would be behind them to prepare the bison. This was because buffalo meat could go bad in a day. Few Europeans and American appreciated such an incredible resource. They did not care for the uses that the buffalo was capable for. They turned bison hunting into a source of recreation rather than the necessity that the native americans were using it for. Native americans came to rely on the bison for everything. This would include; Food, clothing, shelter, and religious worship.The hunting range of bison was dramatically expanded when native americans learned how to use horses to chase and hunt the bison by the 1800s. The bison’s uses were important, but they were also a main factor in the native economy.

The mountain buffalo

The bison were the economic basis of native american life well into the 19th century. Not only were they of economic importance but native people worked nature into their rituals and customs. There were strict cultural sanctions against killing the animals in numbers that would exceed the natural replacement rate. The bison had such value and importance. The lives of native americans depended on them, economically, culturally, and for their daily lives. The buffalo were put to such great use that Americans and Europeans began to take interest in them. American and Europeans began to somewhat utilize their resources and use the bison for such uses as well. But they did not always want to do all the work themselves and began to trade with the native americans. The native americans needed to modernize their culture and begin to use the new tools and technologies that the Americans and Europeans had. The native americans would travel to towns and would either sell or trade their goods or vice versa. This is what led on to be the fur trade.

The buffalo hunter

At first native americans would trade furs among themselves. Since native americans were not not greedy and did not take excessive amounts of resources, they would only take or gather sources that they needed. At first native americans did not accumulate more furs than could immediately be put to use or traded for other goods. Then they realized the great value that these sources had to Americans and Europeans. Since Native americans knew the land and had experience hunting, Europeans encouraged native americans to assist them in conducting a fur trade on a much larger scale. Europeans did not want this trade to just be local, they intended for it become much more than that, such as a cycle or rotation. They wanted native americans to hunt the bison trade their furs with the Europeans. Then they would either use the furs or sell them to turn a profit. Native americans sought iron tools for their part in the fur trade. This was because this was a large improvement on what they had, and they knew only Europeans could provide them. As prices grew, the competition grew among native americans. They native americans were all chasing the profits from the trades. This dispute among the native americans for which tribe to provide the furs led to the Iroquois wars in the mid-17th century. A market economy was introduced to the native american world due to the concept of trapping animals and selling their fur to distant consumers. This was a brutal times for animals. Tons of animals were killed and in the process, the trade hunted many animals to extinction.

Buffalo and Mate (First state)

In conclusion, it was truly incredible how Native americans used (most) every single part of the bison and did not let it go to waste. It was even more incredible how they realized they should not take advantage of this resource that they had. The bison was the key factor in the native way of life, culture, and economy. The significant uses and mass importance of the buffalo was truly an incredible feat. The bison introduced a main ingredient in the native economy. This lead to the fur trade between the native americans. This trade was an idea that was already there. The Europeans helped expand the idea and include the native americans in the process.

Buffalo hunt

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