Ronald L. Trosper - Indigenous Economics: Sustaining Peoples and Their Lands

Ronald L. Trosper

The University of Arizona Press

www.uapress.arizona.edu

We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to twenty-two federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the Oodham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.

2022 by The Arizona Board of Regents

All rights reserved. Published 2022

ISBN-13: 978-0-8165-4661-9 (hardcover)

ISBN-13: 978-0-8165-3345-9 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-0-8165-4662-6 (ebook)

Cover design by Leigh McDonald

Typeset by Sara Thaxton in 10/14 Warnock Pro with Politica and Eurostile LT Std

Publication of this book is made possible in part by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Program in Public Understanding of Science.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Trosper, Ronald L., author.

Title: Indigenous economics : sustaining peoples and their lands / Ronald L. Trosper.

Description: Tucson : University of Arizona Press, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021060217 (print) | LCCN 2021060218 (ebook) | ISBN 9780816546619 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780816533459 (paperback) | ISBN 9780816546626 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: EconomicsSociological aspects. | Indigenous peoplesEconomic conditions. | Ethnoecology. | Sustainability. | Sustainable development.

Classification: LCC HM548 .T758 2022 (print) | LCC HM548 (ebook) | DDC 305.8dc23/eng/20211230

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021060217

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021060218

Printed in the United States of America

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

Dedicated to
Alexander Vernon,
Stephen Hocker

In Memory of
David D. Trosper, 19512015
Dorothy M. Trosper, 19202013
Thurman H. Trosper, 19172007
Henrietta Blueye, 19471982

This book explores the implications of relationality for economic analysis. For Indigenous people, relationality applies in a world in which all beings are conscious, implying equality among humans, nonhumans, and more-than-humans. The search for a unifying theme or fundamental principles for Indigenous economics was difficult, a journey I would like to briefly describe here.

Of course, the answer is obvious within the field of Indigenous studies. Leanna Betasamosake Simpson (2017) centers her analysis on relationality, as do many others (S. Wilson 2008; McGregor 2014; Whyte et al. 2017). The answer is not obvious for a person trained in economics, even one such as myself who recognizes the importance of reciprocity motivated by generosity. The field of economics developed in a culture that praised individualism as an antidote to the domination of people by monarchs and religion in Europe. From my awareness of Indigenous culture, I knew that both generosity and individual autonomy are highly valued. Respecting individual autonomy is evident historically, especially in the prominence of the variety of sexual orientations reported during the early colonial period and subsequently (Roscoe 1988, 1998; Jacobs, Thomas, and Lang 1997; Driskill et al. 2011; Morgensen 2011). I eventually learned that individual autonomy also was a characteristic of relational societies.

When I set out to write what in this work is chapter 5, I wanted to emphasize the use of generosity and reciprocity to solve common pool dilemmas. I found explaining two issues to be difficult: Why would people be generous, and why would people set up systems that required reciprocity such as that I had studied on the Northwest Coast?