ABSTRACT
Property rights were central to the harvesting of beaver and other resources by Native Americans; indeed their system of property rights may have been the key to the long-term prospects of Natives, even their very survival. At the heart of the rules governing the use of resources was what has been termed the “Good Samaritan” constraint or the Ethic of Generosity. Those in need had the right to get help from others. For example, Indians, by right, could hunt for game in territories assigned by custom to other tribes or families. But the Good Samaritan constraint distinguished between those resources that provided for basic needs and those used for exchange; accordingly, it did not extend to beaver or other animals whose pelts were destined for the fur trade; rather, the constraint applied only to animals needed for survival. Given that property rights were apparently weaker on game than on beaver, it would seem that the over-harvesting of game should have been a more serious problem; yet the historical accounts and the work of Carlos and Lewis (1993) suggest the opposite. Game remained plentiful, at least until the nineteenth century, while beaver stocks were depleted.
