Editing Native American trade (section)

==Trade between Native tribes==
During the [[pre-Columbian era]], Native American tribes often traded between themselves and outside bands. Throughout the [[Americas]], Native American tribes had been trading for thousands of years using different material goods and/or currency.

===Shell beads===
[[File:Shell beads sbcm.jpg|thumb|Shell beads and pendants from coastal California in the [https://museum.sbcounty.gov/exhibits/view/sacred-earth/ Sacred Earth Exhibit] at the [https://museum.sbcounty.gov/ San Bernardino County Museum]]]

Shell beads (also referred to as [[shell money]]) have been used for around 9,000–10,000 years<ref name=":1">{{cite journal|last1=Gamble|first1=Lynn H.|last2=King|first2=Chester D.|date=2011|title=Beads and Ornaments from San Diego: Evidence for Exchange Networks in Southern California and the American Southwest|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23215649|journal=Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology|volume=31|issue=2|pages=155–178|jstor=23215649}}</ref> in the Americas, both pre-contact and post-contact. It was most commonly used as a form of trade, either as a material to be exchanged, or as a form of currency.<ref>Fauvelle, M. (2024). Shell money: A comparative study. Cambridge University Press.</ref>

The [[Callianax biplicata|''Olivella biplicata'']], or the purple olive shell<ref name=":2">{{cite journal|last1=Groza|first1=Randell G.|last2=Rosenthal|first2=Jeffrey|last3=Southon|first3=John|last4=Milliken|first4=Randell|date=2011|title=A Refined Shell Bead Chronology for Late Holocene Central California|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23215648|journal=Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology|volume=31|issue=2|pages=135–154|jstor=23215648}}</ref> was used during the early [[Holocene]] period, around 200–1835 CE, spanning around 1,500 years.<ref name=":2" /> Typically used by the [[Chumash people|Chumash]] (located in the central and southern coastal regions of California), it was crafted and shaped into 160 different variations of shell beads,<ref name=":2" /> which were used as a form of currency and status.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gamble|first=Lynn H.|date=2020|title=The origin and use of shell bead money in California|doi=10.1016/j.jaa.2020.101237|journal=Journal of Anthropological Archaeology|volume=60|issue=1|pages=101237|via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> Some examples of these variant styles include; needle-drilled disks, lipped beads, cupped beads, thin rectangles (pendant), thin rectangles (sequin). Made in the Santa Barbara Channel, they were distributed throughout Chumash territory and was used throughout different areas as currency, allowing for trade between different bands, making its way up California, the Great Basin, and in Western North America.

The [[Cahuilla]] (located in Palm springs) used beads traded from the [[Serrano people|Serrano]] (who had received them from the [[Tongva|Gabrieleno/Tongva]]) to create their own form of shell bead currency.<ref name=":1" /> Specific lengths were assigned for different amounts of money. An example of this is a "witchu", a string of shell beads from the forehead to the ground, then multiplied by 4 equal to 50 United States cents. Another example is  the "napanaa", measured by wrapping around the wrists and fingers, equal to 20 cents.<ref name=":1" />

===Basketry===
Trade played a central role in spreading basket designs among California tribes through active exchange networks involving ceremonial events, visits, and intermarriages. This facilitated the advertising of design styles across neighboring communities, resulting in highly similar systems among tribes in close proximity. This uniformity in [[basket weaving]] shows a strong trade network, contrasting with the variability observed in tribes like the [[Pomo]], who lived in more isolated communities in [[northern California]]. However, tribes such as the [[Yurok]], [[Karuk]], and [[Hupa]], located along the northwestern California coast and in the [[Klamath Mountains]], exhibited nearly identical basketry.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Washburn|first=Dorothy K.|date=1987|title=The Neighbor Factor: Basket Designs in Northern and Central California|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27825304|journal=Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology|volume=9|issue=2|pages=146–173|jstor=27825304|issn=0191-3557}}</ref>

The intertribal commerce of Native American tribes across California and adjacent regions was characterized by the exchange of baskets as valuable commodities. Tribes engaged in the exchange of baskets to obtain goods, forge alliances, and foster social connections. For instance, the [[Yokuts]] tribes, located in the [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley]] and [[Sierra Nevada]] foothills, engaged in extensive trade networks with neighboring tribes such as [[Miwok]], [[Coast Miwok]], and [[Tübatulabal|Tubatulabal]]. Similarly, the [[Salinan]] people, residing along the [[Central Coast (California)|Central Coast of California]], participated in basket trade with the Yokuts and [[Chumash people|Chumash]] tribes  from the coastal regions. Tribes engaged in trade also obtained a variety of goods in return. These included natural resources such as obsidian, fish, salt, acorns, pine nuts, and [[manzanita]] berries.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sample|first=L. L.|date=1950-09-15|title=Trade and Trails in Aboriginal California|journal=Reports of the University of California Archaeological Survey|url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7kh6t20h|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Woven Coiled Baskets.jpg|thumb|Maidu coiled baskets were discovered from the North Fork of the [[Willamette River]] in Oregon. This particular basket, from the San Bernardino County Museum, exhibits similar coiling techniques and craftsmanship of Maidu artisans.|alt=This image is of three coiled baskets with designs that depict mission bells.]]

Maidu baskets originate primarily from northeastern California, the native territory of the [[Maidu]] people. The Maidu are indigenous to the Sierra Nevada foothills and adjacent valleys, including areas such as the Sacramento Valley, the northern Sierra Nevada, and the [[Cascade Range]].<ref name=":3">{{cite journal|last=Tuohy|first=Donald R.|date=1986-07-01|title=A Maidu Coiled Basket from the North Fork of the Willamette River, Oregon|url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5167j03t|journal=Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology|language=en|volume=8|issue=2|issn=0191-3557}}</ref> The Maidu had access to a variety of natural resources, influencing the materials used in their basketry. These baskets are crafted using traditional techniques passed down through generations and are made from locally sourced materials such as willow, maple, redbud, and ferns, abundant in the surrounding forests and valleys.<ref name=":3" /> Maidu's skill in crafting high-quality baskets made them desirable trade partners, attracting interest from other tribes seeking their goods. Additionally, engaging in trade allowed the Maidu to acquire resources not readily available in their own territory. Trade served as a means of fostering alliances and maintaining social connections with neighboring groups, contributing to the cohesion and stability of the region. Through trade, the Maidu could also access items of ceremonial significance or prestige, enhancing their cultural practices and status within the broader network of Native American tribes in the region.<ref name=":3" />

===Fur trade in California===
Rabbit skin blankets were a textile category that was often traded among California groups. [[Great Basin]] and other desert groups fringing California, with a good supply of hares and cottontails, were important sources for trade. The Surprise Valley [[Northern Paiute people|Northern Paiute]] traded them to the Central and Southern [[Miwok]] but also received them, especially from the [[Tübatulabal]].<ref>Hughes 2011, p. 205</ref>