Most people would define wealth as the accumulation of some sort of precious possessions or just plain money. However, like most terms, wealth can be observed as a completely different or foreign concept in another cultural/social group. At this time, two cultural groups, the American Indians and the American English settlers, began to interact more frequently for various purposes such as the purchasing of land. Nevertheless, the concept of wealth and property had been so dissimilar between the two societies that misunderstandings were not unfamiliar to them and frequent disagreements occurred. Fueled by differing understandings and perceptions of wealth and property, a clash between the American Indians and the American English colonists… During the early colonization of America, the accumulation of property was often the definition of one’s wealth and power for the English colonists. To the Indians, there was an emphasis on the cultural capital one held and wampumpeag, a string of beads the Indians wore. As mentioned in Change in the Land, “wampum was a highly valued token of personal power and wealth” (Cronon 95). How can this simple jewelry …show more content…
While the colonists practiced land ownerships, the natives considered only possessions made independently could be owned. The Indians did not believe in the individual collection of goods such as land or tools like the Europeans. To be precise, the American Indians practiced collective ownership while the colonists practiced individual ownership. The Indians saw land as a shared resource, therefore they shared the land with one another. The Europeans, not really acknowledging the natives’ use of land, saw land as something they could own so the English crown would often award the English settlers with the natives’ land they claimed. If this did not work, the colonists would purchase the land from the