Native American Societies Before Contact · US History

The concept of private land ownership among most Native American tribes before 1492 was:

  1. Virtually identical in every meaningful respect to the European legal system of individually recorded land deeds
  2. The primary cause of all inter-tribal conflicts
  3. Non-existent, as land was generally seen as a communal resource for use rather than a commodity
  4. Strictly enforced by a system of national borders and fences
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Correct answer: Non-existent, as land was generally seen as a communal resource for use rather than a commodity

While tribes claimed territory for hunting or farming, the idea that an individual could 'own' a piece of the earth forever was foreign. Land was valued for its use-rights, which were often shared among a kin group or village.

Difficulty: Medium Question 14 of 20

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