Trade Routes For thousands of years, Native American s operated huge trade networks to get what they needed from other people in the Americas. For example, people in what is now North Dakota quarried a hard stone called flint near Knife River. The stone was so valuable in ancient times that 4,000 years ago, it was being traded far from the quarry. Copper and obsidian have also been discovered far from their natural locations. This proves a trade system existed. Another example of trade comes from the Hohokam tribe in what is now Arizona. The Hohokam traded buffalo hides for seashells. Neither resource comes from Arizona! The hides came from tribes on the Plains. Plains tribes often traded bison robes, dried meat, and tallow with other tribes for corn and squash. The shells
the “highways” for tribes. If rivers were the highways, paths were like the smaller “roads” we use today. Paths crossed all over North America. Native peoples made and named other paths. One well-known route stretched from the forests by Lake Erie to the South Carolina coast. This trail, called the Trading Path, appeared on maps in the 1700s. Parts are still marked today. Trails often followed the “military crest” of the ridge. Trails ran alongside, but not on the ridge tops. This way, a person could travel along the trail without being seen by those on the other side of the ridge. Many Native American s disciplined themselves to
came from the Mojave tribe in California. By trading with both groups, the Hohokam became middlemen within a larger trade route. Middlemen took goods from one group to another during trade. Trade was an essential part of the government. Agreements had to be made in order to trade safely. But not all trade was peaceful. Sometimes tribes would go to war to control trade routes and resources. Eventually, peace would be made with chiefs making agreements for their bands. Rivers and Trails Rivers were extremely important when native people needed to travel. Many traveled by canoe on major rivers like the Mississippi, Ohio, Columbia, and Missouri. Some canoes could haul thousands of pounds of goods for trade. Rivers were
Trade, Barter, and Money How people use resources to meet their wants and needs is the basis for economics. There are goods and services needed or wanted in a community. Meeting the wants and needs of the community is considered a trade network. The Native American s had resources they used to meet their wants and needs. We see this in how the homes and shelters of the tribes varied depending on what natural resources were around them in the environment. Tribes on the coast did not have the same resources as the people of the Great Plains. The same is true about their daily lives and their art. To meet their wants and needs, people would trade. One tribe might have a good year farming and raising maize. Another tribe’s crops might be destroyed in a weather disaster. The extra maize of the first tribe would be needed in the second tribe. To acquire the maize, the second tribe would offer the first tribe another resource they had plenty of, such as furs or carved utensils.
go up in those goods, and more goods would be required to make a satisfactory deal. Tribes in the local region would offer common items for trade. What was common in one geographic region could be highly valued in different geographic regions. Coastal tribes found dentalium seashells common. However, inland tribes who had never been to the ocean found seashells a high-value trade item. Bartering still occurs today. Any time you trade a good like an apple for another good, such as a string cheese, that is bartering.
Sometimes a tribe would send representatives out to communicate and make connections with other tribes. Sometimes the traders were welcomed with music and celebration. A market would be opened for goods to be shown and opportunities for families to make a trade on their own. This is called bartering . Each trader had to negotiate for a satisfactory trade. The trade would depend on how much one of the traders wanted or needed the goods or service. If every family had sufficient furs for the winter, they wouldn’t look to trade for furs. However, if there was scarcity of items, trade values would
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