After reading u/sowser's amazing explanation about the difference between slaves and serfs, it had me thinking why didn't indigenous populations of the USA and Canada not experience similar commodification?
I am a social worker in Canada Alberta, and due to intergenerational trauma created by hundreds of years of colonization, around 50% of my clients are of aboriginal heritage. I think it's massively important to know the history of my clients to be able to work on the present, so I gather as much information as I can (full disclosure I am also lowkey a history nerd).
In all my books, classes, talking with elders, and documentaries, I have really come across much information about indigenous people being sold into slavery at the same level of African American people. Could this be because most of my studies are Canadian? Did it happen more often in the USA? Was the population left after sickness not as profitable? Was there some belief that race was in relation to who made a good slave?
Thank you for any information you're able to share!
The short answer is that Native American slavery was pervasive from the beginning of contact, and persisted into the 20th century, from the tip of South America to the Canadian arctic. Slavery, combined with other demographic shocks like warfare, disease, territorial displacement, resource deprivation, etc. increased Native American mortality after contact, while simultaneously decreased fertility to allow for demographic rebound.
Check out these previous answers on the scale of the Native American slave trade for one specific place, the U.S. Southeast, as well as a more general answer on Native American slavery.
For further reading check out Andrés Reséndez The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America for a great introduction/insight into the depth and breadth of Indian slavery in the New World. Though a little more academic, you might also like Brett Rushforth Bonds of Alliance: Indigenous and African Slaveries in New France due to the focus on Canada, and the French Caribbean.