A basic misunderstanding on the nature of tribalism in various cultures maybe at the root of our confusion about first nations... Steve
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treaties with some Native American societies in the West. It was naively assumed by the federal government that when "spokesmen" for a band agreed to a treaty that it legally bound all members of their society to its terms. From the perspective of the band members, it really only obligated those specific individuals who agreed to the treaty. If others in the band failed to follow the terms of the agreement, the federal government assumed that they were going back on a legal agreement. This cultural misunderstanding on both sides was the consequence of having radically different kinds of political systems as well as profound ethnocentrism.
http://anthro.palomar.edu/political/pol_2.htm
