Sovereign Trade as Historically Practiced among Indian Tribes in the Western United States

Abstract

American Indian tribes today assert their inherent political sovereign rights recognized in the United States Constitution. Tribal gaming has been a very visible expression of tribal sovereign rights. A much less visible and empirically examined aspect of economic sovereignty is private entrepreneurship. An initial expectation from tribal gaming was spillover into entrepreneurial ventures by tribal members. However barriers exist inhibiting private business practice by individuals on some Indian reservations today, one barrier being a perception that private entrepreneurship contradicts egalitarian tribal values assuming that American Indians have never practiced capitalism, and thus businesses should be owned and managed collectively by tribal governments. This paper presents a historical examination of trade as practiced in North America before and after European and American incursions into what is today's U. S. northwest and southwest. This paper reveals that, contrary to assumptions, trade practiced by private individuals within tribes is not being new and foreign capitalist idea. Findings from this study establish a foundation for exploring culturally relevant entrepreneurship and business for American Indian tribes and other indigenous cultural groups