10 Quotes on the Native American Understanding of “Ownership” [1]

“Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

Before the Europeans arrived in North America, the Algonquian peoples that lived there – otherwise known as the Native American, First Nations and Inuit cultures – knew nothing of the idea of “ownership”. The idea that land could actually be owned was not part of their culture, and many of the practices that were built into their way of life reflected this. Young children were often encouraged to give away their most highly-valued possessions as gifts, and ceremonies during which the adults would give away all of their material items were common. Anyone who acquired a large number of possessions became of concern to the tribe.