The New Buffalo: the Effects of Exchange on North American Indigenous Tradition

This paper examines the consequences of exchange on the Indigenous people living in the geopolitical border of the United States of America. I analyze the effects of the fur trade and casinos on the North American Indigenous as a whole then more specifically the Mississippi Band of Choctaw. I argue that the fur trade is responsible for the degradation of traditional North American Indigenous ways of life, and that the Choctaw are using casinos to fund the preservation and maintenance of traditional forms of their culture. I focus on the aspects of culture that are most affected by exchange and examine what aspects have been rejuvenated on the Choctaw reservation in Choctaw, Mississippi since the arrival of their first casino; the Silver Star Hotel and Casino