Why Did Fort Ross Use Labor Practices In Colonial America?

Colonialism brought many unfair practices to the Americas, among them was labor practices that exploited various Indigenous groups, especially Native Californians. At the time that mercantile companies were at their peak, labor practices in these places were extremely common. Fort Ross was especially known for using Indigenous people to run their company. Based on this, we can say that Fort Ross heavily relied on native labor to be a successful organization and for their business to survive. According to Lightfoot, the dimension of labor practice in colonial encounters, consists of how individuals were incorporated into labor systems in the Americas, more specifically at Fort Ross. This involves looking into how they were recruited, their compensation, how they were selected for jobs, and their
Like their era of agricultural production, the colony had to bring in people of Indigenous origin from Alaska in order to have a booming business. In the article, “The Archaeology and Ethnohistory of Fort Ross, California, vol. 2. “NAVS,” the writer talks about the large number of Native Alaskans that resided at Fort Ross. Most individuals were brought in from Kodiak Island and identified as Alutiiq. From 1812 to 1841, they were the largest ethnic community at Fort Ross and served as general laborers, porters, fishermen, commercial sea mammal hunters, and skilled craftsmen. It is known that the Russian-American company drafted many individuals into compulsory service to work in hunting camps. Not only were young individuals drafted, but also older men, women and children. People who committed crimes against the Company were also recruited into working for Fort Ross. Slaves and war captives were automatically part of the workforce when Kodiak Island was conquered by the Russians. The writer reveals that many Alaskan workers were in debt to the Company until they died due to their low