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Abstract
This thesis isolates four distinct patterns of production in the economic history of the Ahtna Athabascan Indians of the Upper Copper Valley, Alaska in the period from the 1700's to 1974: the aboriginal period of production for use and the periods dominated by mercantile capitalism; monopoly capitalism; and state capitalism. The period of mercantile capitalism involved the introduction of commodity fur production and the beginnings of a dependence upon commodities used as the means of subsistence production. The period of monopoly capitalism involved the introduction of wage labour and a fuller dependence upon commodities as the means of subsistence production. The period of state capitalism involved a fuller dependence upon wage labour and a direct dependence upon commodities. The common thread through the diverse periods of Ahtna history is the progressive rise and elaboration of a Native class society. The nature of the national economies, the type of commodity production introduced, and the role of commodities introduced are shown to be crucial in this development.
