TRADE IN THE PLAINS: AFFLUENCE AND ITS EFFBCTS1
Polly Pope, Graduate Student
University of California, Davis
For the purpose of seeing how external culture contact my have acted
as an initiator of change, it is proposed that an examination of Plains
Indian society be made beginning in historic times at the onset of white and
Indian trade relationships.
The impetus for this inquiry is Eggan's observation that "tribes com-
ing into the Plains with different backgrounds and social systems ended up
with similar kinship systems," a statement that he expands by going a step
beyond the kinship system, to "Similar social structure" (Eggan 1955:519).
In the course of the paper it will be pointed out in broad terms where there
are recurrent phenomena in the social structure and the role that trade played
in bringing about these similarities.
Economists sometimes accuse anthropologists of putting on theoretical
spectacles when it comes to interpretation of markets, money and trade, but I
do not believe that Plains Indian trade can be legitimately tagged as either
-reciprocity or redistribution functioning in a cultural backwater.
Historical data indicates that in the early days of the fur trade,
the late 17th century, the custom was for an Indian village or a band to
trade regularly with one concern.  Hudson's Bay Company, chartered by the
Engli-sh, soon cam to the realization that a continuing and a prosperous
business rested on nonextinction of fur bearing animals. Therefore, the com-
paxr decided on a policy which left trapping to the Indians, Hudson's Bay
also maintained a standard price for pelts and payment was in either cash or
credit. There were to be no under the counter dealings and no liquor was
sold--at least -not until the company found itself competing with independent
traders. These policies appear to have made for good trading relations.
Indians with furs to sell took them to a post, where one of the chiefs was
delegated to handle the business transaction.
A somewhat similar policy was instigated by the North West Fur Com-
pany in that they did no trapping and sold no liquor. However, the concern
differed from Hudson's Bay in that some of the founders were independent
French traders who sought out the Indian in his village or band. The French,
even more than their competitor, acclimated themselves to Plains life. Many
took Indian wives and frequently resided with them in the village.
Trade flourished for a time with a minimum of trouble and the trade
network extended as far south as the Mandan villages. Although this was
American territory, it was not until 1817 that the United States attempted to
exclude foreign trappers. A decision by the government in 1796 that closer
relations should be maintained with the Indians became manifest with the es-
tablishing of trading post-s--posts which proved to be highly ineffective
(Chittenden 1954:Vol. I).
The government posts extended no credit, sold no liquor, and being
loyal to home production handled only American-made goods0  By this time the
Plains Indian was a discriminating consumer accustomed to English woolens--
blankets and materials of better quality. Cultural complexities began to
compound with the arrival of the lone American who came to the Plains not
only -to trade but to trap, an encroachment recognized as causing no small
amount of disruption among the Indians.
It is judged that many a shrewd trader took cognizance of the politi-
cal structure in the bands in that he preferred to deal with an established
chief , but if none were available (some chiefs already had made alliances,
some were indifferent to trade) this did not deter the trader. The trader
-tookthe situation into his own hands.
Exemplifying this kind of action is the report of a L. R. Masson,
trader, who said in reference to the Blackfoot: "After making the father a
chief, you are sometimes obliged to do the same with his son in order to
secure his hunt" (Ewers 1955.43).
Richardson in Law and Status Aon  the Kiowa Indians reports the
Ki-owa split in two factions, one led by a man named Baitalyi, who refused to
traffic with the whites, and another faction, ". . . led by Kicking Bird, who
played along with the whites .    and built himself up into the chief media-
tor" (Richardson 19140.102).
Traders able to extend their influence to United States government
officials could split authority in a pseudo-legal way by establishing what
LaFlesche calls the "paper chiefs."  It is these paper chiefs which divided
the Oimha. LaFlesche says:  "Medals were hung about their necks v . . and
efforts were mde to keep them loyal to the trading companies. O I v This
outside pressure on tribal affairs complicated the life and thought of the
people and di-sturbed the ancient forms and authority of the chiefs" (Fletcher
and LaFlesche 19050631).
Culture contact in the early days of the fur trade apparently rein-
forced the political authority of the legitimate chiefs, those who held
office on the basis of inherited right and ability. -But the more intensified
white culture contact did affect political structure, mainly because the
desire for trade goods overrode loyalty to legitimate chiefs. The unauthorized
chief_- -with -access to Euro-American wares could be assured of a following.
Another observation--this one on the Sioux--comes from Catlin who,
while visiting at Fort Pierre in the late 1830's, states that the Sioux are
divided into 42-bands, each band being subordinate to a head chief, but he
adds: "This subordination, however, I should rather record as their former
and native regulation   . . since the numerous innovations made amongst these
people'by the fur traders .   . . soon upset and change many regulations, and
particularly those relating to their government and religion" (Catlin 1926:
235).
The intensity of this contact- for the Indians, the Comanche being an
exception, is evidenced in the steady influx of American trappers and traders,
the representatives of large fur companies, the innumerable men from small
concerns, and the Pedlers--independent French and English traders.
French traders wishing to do business with the Missouri River tribes
seldom had to improvise on the political situation. One route to trade could
come by being allowed to join a clan where, as a member of a kinship group,
the trader became a participant in a network of trade relations. Other times
marriage to an Indian woman assured him of trade with her kin. No one could
claim after reviewing Plains history that the kinship structure displayed
elements of fossilization sometimes attributed to aboriginal society! in
fact the malleability of kinship resulted in some unusual developments.   But
trade had more far reaching affects on the marriage structure.
Catlin commenting on polygyny in the Plains says it is brought on by
the desire for luxuries of life and he relates that: "Amongst those tribes
who trade with the fur companies, this system is carried out to a great ex-
tent, and the women are kept for the greater part of the year dressing buffalo
robes and other skins for the market; and the brave or chief, who has the
greatest number of wives, is considered the most affluent. . ." (Catlin 1926:
133-134).
Women's activities in prehistoric times included tanning hides but
not until the introduction of trade from outside sources was there the exces-
sive demand for hides. It obviously became imperative for men with rank to
increase their labor supply, but how? There was no pool of workers from
which a man could hire individuals. Consequently the man who sought workers,
in this case women, must have another solution; and on the Plains women were
obtainable through marriage or by capture. In the latter situation it -was
probably wiser to marry the women, thereby gaining their loyalty.
Besides tanning hides, the additional females were needed for house-
hold maintenance since a successful man must also be a hospitable one. Guests
must be entertained and the poor who appeared at the door must be provided for.
Technological changes freed Plains women from some duties. Women no
longer had to participate in the buffalo hunt; iron kettles could be substi-
tuted for pottery; knives and axes of Euro-American origins were more effi-
cient devices for many tasks; and supplementing this was the fact that a num-
ber of women cooperating in work could be more efficient. One Blackfoot
chief pointed out his eight wives could dress 150 skins in a year but a single
wife could only dress 10 (Lewis 1942:39).
The surveyor David Thompson who visited the Blackfoot in 1787 reported
that a man might have three or four wives and a few men had six (Thompson
19160347). On the basis of these figures Lewis (1942:38) concludes most men
probably had one or two wives. By 1840 there appeared to be a definite rise
in number of wives according to figures quoted by Lewis (1942:38-39). He says
the genealogies he collected in the course of field work among the Blackfoot
are in agreement in that they bear out increases recorded by Grinnell for that
time. According to Lewis a Blackfoot in 1840 could have six, eight, or as
many as twelve wives. The rise continues into the 1870's when the figures
show some men claimed as many as twenty or thirty wives. While these statis-
tics may be correct, it is quite possible that they are representative of
only a few rich Blackfoot. Nevertheless the picture is one which shows a
steady increase in polygynous marriage and this increase in number of wives
shows a correlation with a rising trade in buffalo hides. The date set for
increased buffalo hide trade in the United States and Canada is 1833.
Polygyny, however, never reached the proportions in the Southern
Plains that it did in the North.  Among the Kiowa, Mishkin reports on the
basis of a sample-of 25 males that five possessed three wives; the remainder
had either two, one, or none, circa 1830-1880. For the Comanche it is stated
that, "The nmmber of wives might run anywhere from one to six or more"
(Wallace 1952:138). Although the Kiowa were more interested in trade than
the Comanche, neither tribe seems to have had as many contacts with traders
as did the tribes in the north. And finally both Kiowa and Comanche had a
much more accessible supply of horses (from the south) to draw upon. Thus by
comparison with the Northern Plains it can be seen that as trade declined in
importance, so did polygynous marriage.
The increased desire for wealth helped bring about this growth in
polygyny, which, in turn, gave rise to more changes within the framework of
marriage.
Catlin reports that one Ponca man married four girls on the same day.
All were between twelve and fifteen years of age. Although there was some
consternation when four sets of parents arrived on the scene at the same time,
parents kept their word and each father received two horses, a gun and tobacco
(Catlin 1926:239-240).
Among the Mandan, Catlin says, some girls married between the ages of
twelve and fourteen and others as early as eleven (Catlin 1926:137).  His ac-
count covers the period between 1832 and 1839.
Denig, writing about the Crows in the 1850's states: "Consequently
if such a thing as an honest woman can be found in this tribe it is one who
has been raised under the husband's own care . . . and taken for a wife at
the age of 10 to 13 years" (Denig 1961:153).
Thompson states that in 1787 Blackfoot girls were marrying between
the ages of sixteen and eighteen while the men were twenty-two or older
(Thompson 1916:350). However, in the latter half of the nineteenth century
girls could--marry between the ages of ten and sixteen and the men were at
least thirty-five (Lewis 1942:40).
These are a few instances but a change in the social patterning is
obvious. Brides were evidently quite often very young women--husbands were
considerably older. Marriage for the men was deferred to a time when a man
had accumulated property, meaning horses and trade goods--both of which had
much appeal to prospective fathers-in-law. It was this need for horses which
leads directly to the next topic, warfare.
Descriptive accounts of early Plains warfare are few. One source
which ethnologists rely on is the report by Thompson who relates an old
Piegan chief's story of a battle between his people and the Snakes in 1730.
Warfare- at- that-   - ti-     of tribes meeting, displaying their strength
by dancing and parading, and ultimately doing battle, a battle in which there
was a minimal loss of lives. Thompson presents data which indicate the
Piegan maintained both a civil and a war chief through the early 1800's. The
civ l office was one which was inherited while the war chieftaincy rested on
prowess in warfare (Thompson L916:346-347). With the introduction of the
hore it-seems only logical that this pattern of warfare would alter.
The horse served as an ideal vehicle for small raiding parties, those
groups organized by individuals for the purpose of stealing horses and what-
-ever plunder happened to be available. The logic of the raid lies in the
fact that males could increase both their wealth and prestige. Horses signi-
fied buying power. With horses a man might obtain trade products and wives.
The raid also performed another service. A poor man, provided he was skilled,
could organize a raiding party; thus in an open society like the Plains
almost every man was a war chief in his own right. There was less room in
the political structure for a single war chief, only in the event that some
form of tribal war was planned. Warfare turned into an individualistic type
of exploitation, but a more costly one in terms or mortality because it
hinged on an unending series of raids.
The desire for horses, for more wealth, altered Plains warfare first
in that the smaller war party replaced the large body of massed forces;
second, in that the increased number of raids made for a great number of war
casualties; and third, the authority of the war chief was weakened and in
some cases disappeared as individuals planned their own war exploits.
In the examination of the mechanics of raiding, the interdependence
of social institutions cames sharply into focus. If, for example, one con-
siders how raiding affected marriage structure it is clear that a high mortal-
ity rate among;,males served to reinforce polygyny; second, that material gain
from the raid gave men more purchasing power. A man could afford more wives;
polygyny received further reinforcement.
The interdependence of these units--raid, trade, and horses--becomes
more and more obvious; it is a topic which will be discussed in more detail
shortly, but there is one more area for investigation in the social structure.
There is apparently a relationship between the economic and the ceremonial or
religious; that is, the latter felt the impact of trade.
Seemingly as trade and wealth became more important in the Plains
this, in turn, affected the mode of behavior in ritual transactions.  The
sacred medicine bundles tended to take on secular qualities in that frequently
the bundle became regarded as a sound purchase. Lowie says: "To buy a bundle
was a safe investment, for it was readily negotiable and the new buyer was
under pressure of public opinion to offer at least the price exacted at one
time from the seller" (Lowie 1963:129).
This transition from the sacred to the secular is illustrated by
Blackfoot attitude. In 1833 they are reported to have been most reluctant to
transfer a bundle. This is also the date for the beginning of buffalo hide
trade among the Blackfoot.- If a bundle were sold then the price might come
to nine horses; however, in the period from the 1850's to the 1880's, bundle
prices ranged from 30 to 60 horses (Lewis 1942:44-45).
Among the Mandan the "rights in the medicine bundle could be sold
four times by the original-owner" (Bruner 1961:224). The Crow too were
willing to sell their medicine bundles and if a man had failed to have a
vision he need not give up hope--providing he had the price. Power could be
purchased, Lowie states the idea that:  "0 * 0 compensation should be paid
for the benefit of a vision was, indeed, so firmly rooted an idea that some
ceremonial privileges had to be paid for even if a son got them from his own
parent" (Lowie 1956:249).
From the economic standpoint the bundle possessed three possible
values:  (1) It was a good investment since it could be sold agln.   (2)
Bundle possession assured the owner of fees because individuals in a commu-
nity would pay to have ceremonies performed0 (3) Ownership of a bundle ave
prestige .
On the Southern Plains money also brought power0 For the Kiowa,
where the population was divided Into four groups ranked on a basis of inher-
ited status, those who belonged to the first order, the "distinguished or
fine personsW could go off to raid without a shield or medicine. However,
those with wealth usually bought a shield which already possessed supernatural
power or in some instances the "fine ones" paid to have medicine performed.
Poor men got their protection by having a vision.  In time a great amount of
ceremonial paraphernalia was for sale on the Plains; no one questioned its
efficacy.
The fact that a supplicant in his prayers often would make a contrac-
tual arrangement with the supernatural was a fairly commonplace phenomenon in
many places. The prayer of a Kansa war captain below needs no interpretation
and it is presented because it does seem to be particularly representative of
the Plains attitude toward religion: "I wish to kill a Pawnee! I desire to
bring horses when I return. I long to pull down an enemy. I promise you a
calico shirt and a robe. I will give you a blanket also, 0 Wakanda, if you
allow me to return in safety after killing a Pawnee" (Lowie 1963:185).
Throughout the Plains one sees this complex of raid, trade and horse
surplus--a continuing circle of events. The man who possessed many horses
could do more trading but in so doing he depleted his supply, consequently he
had to obtain more horses in one of two ways: (1) by raiding or (2) by trad-
ing0 Although raiding implied danger, it meant prestige. There might be a
chance to -ount coup and if a man was both skillful and fortunate he got
horses at no costO Why should he pay when raiding was such an acceptable
practice.
Although the raid, trade, horse complex is spoken of as a generality
for the Plains it should be noted that each component in the complex my vary
pending the area or the tribe under discussion. Among the Comanche raiding
and a   plus of horses predominated in the scheme; trading was of secondary
importance since the Comanche so frequently just appropriated the goods they
desired. By contrast trade was of much greater import among the village
tribes on the Missouri River. But as a phenomenon there is an over-all cohe-
siveness which may well fit into what Kroeber terms a "systemic pattern" de-
fined as: ". . . a system or complex of cultural mterial that has proved
its utility as a system and therefore tends to cohere and persist as a
unit . . ." (Kroeber 1948:312).
He states that the pattern fundamentally limits itself to "one aspect
of culture" such as religion or economics; however, it is not limited to one
culture or area. The distinguishing feature is the "specific inter-relation
of their component parts" (Xroeber 1948:312-313). Two further qualifications
are that the pattern becomes more evident when viewed historically and that
it, -so to speak,, "dies a hard death." In retrospect--raid, trade and horses
proved their utility as a system holding Plains culture together. When the
pattern ceased, the disintegration became apparent.
Conclusively then one can point to the media of Euro-American trade
which is seen as a factor in precipitating change in the political structure
of many Plains tribes. First, legitimate chiefs in a number of cases found
themselves sharing authority with the unauthorized but ambitious chiefs who
could attract a following on the basis of trade. Second, the desire for
trade and horses on the part of many men affected the marriage structure,
especially in the Northern Plains where polygyny increased and there was the
trend for women to marry younger and to men older by far than themselves.
Third, warfare patterns altered with the raid replacing the massed battle,
consequently the war chief's authority diminished and in some cases the posi-
tion disappeared, Fourth, religion lost some of its sacred qualities in that
in time, with increased trade and wealth, ritual objects and ceremonies could
be readily purchased.
These are the responses of a changing Plains society, one subject to
an intensive culture contact situation where the desire for trade goods in
part brought about these similarities in social structure.
ENDNOTES
1This paper was presented at a meeting of the Southwestern Anthro-
pological Association at San Francisco State College on March 27, 1964.
2Bruner describes a father-son adoption ceremony which was set up to
enable members of "warring tribes to trade in peace." A fictitious father in
another tribe would adopt a Mandan as a son, then in the event of war both
parties could be granted sanctuary for the purposes of trade only (Bruner
1961:201).
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