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Abstract:
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"Why did the Western Apache and Zuni allow individuals to own land, the Tzeltal only permit household ownership, the Yucatec Mayo allow private ownership of all property except land which was maintained as communal, and the Seri reserve all land for the Chief? The object of this paper is to motivate and test a hypothesis of property rights formation across North and South American Indian communities.
"Alternative theses vary on 1. the source of differences between groups (nature vs. nurture); 2. what motivates behaviour (group or individual welfare); 3. do the same behavioral assertions apply to groups over time. Primarily this research tests implications from rational economic behaviour in early communities (which does not preclude cooperation or charity). Rather than innate differences, constraints imposed by physical environment and level of technology determined such factors as food sources, nomadic behavior, and warring tendencies. Likewise, some mix of private and common property rights emerged because of these constraints and the nature of property (real or incorporeal, movable or fixed), with rules governing who within the community could own property, and extent of rights for inheriting or transferring property."
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