Reciprocity - Sharing
The obligation to share resources and maintain balanced exchange.
Aboriginal society is built on reciprocity. Food must be shared, favors must be returned, and no one accumulates at others' expense. This sharing ensures community survival and prevents the development of inequality.
What I have, I share. What you have, you share. That is how we all survive.
Reciprocity systems prevented resource accumulation and inequality.
Oral Tradition
Written about in
- What Aboriginal tradition says about kinship and sharing
Food is shared and favours are returned, and accumulating at the expense of others is ruled out. The stated purpose is survival rather than virtue.
- What Aboriginal tradition says about conflict with people close to you
Food is shared, favours are returned, and nobody accumulates at another's expense. A great deal of resentment between close people is unequal exchange left unspoken, and this removes the option of quietly keeping score.