Aboriginal Slavery on the Northwest Coast of North America by Leland Donald - 1997

Condition: clean copy, dust jacket in excellent condition, protected by plastic cover.
Content: Slaves were important to the Northwest Coast economies for their labor and for their value as major items of exchange, Although these were small-scale societies, lacking complex political institutions, the richness and complexity of their cultural systems has been well documented. The author finds that slavery played a major role in more famous and frequently analyzed Northwest Coast cultural forms such as the potlatch and the spectacular art style and ritual systems that were a primary part of elite activity. Slavery, he says not only supported but made possible the elaborate ranking and stratification system and allowed the elite of each community to participate in intercommunity elite activities as well as to dominate in their home communities.
380 pages, notes, references, index.