There is just no place for slavery in a hunter-gatherer society. What are you going to do, give them weapons and send them hunting?
The post contact Apaches (primarily hunter gathers with some rudimentary agriculture) found a use for them. Cochise noted that ironically the Emancipation Proclamation, in theory, had freed Apache held slaves (usually Mexican mestizos), yet there was no obligation for Mexicans to free Apaches they held as slaves.
I imagine that the Apache held slaves were used primarily as food gathers, fire tenders, water haulers, latrine diggers, beasts of burden during relocations, care takers of Apache horses, care takers of Apache elderly and concubines.
Heck, transporting and butchering large game animals of any kind can be very tiresome. It is far better to have the slaves do it for you.
That probably depended on the tribe. The Apaches had a Spartan like promotion system where "worthy" slaves who demonstated Apache warrior ideals could be made Apaches. Other tribes in the North West appeared to of had a system where "foreign" slaves were eventually incorperated into the dominate tribe as a low caste clan and then assigned impure / low status duties.Didn't they have chances to get free after a time, marry into the captor tribe and their children considered free and members of the tribe?
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