OWNERSHIP patterns found among the cultures of the world have interested anthropologists almost as long as there has been a science of that name. However, most students have confined their attention to certain traditional questions, particularly the size and composition of the group in physical possession of land, capital goods, and items of personal use. This is not an adequate conception of the problem since not only the form of ownership patterns, but their interrelationships with other aspects of the culture, have been found to vary markedly between different societies. A full understanding of the institution of property therefore requires an investigation of the social setting in which it functions, or what Hallowell has called the "social aspect of property" (Hallowell 1955:238). The ownership rights of individuals or groups can be encompassed within the socially recognized power to acquire, use, dispose of, or destroy property. In no known instance is an owner given completely free rein in the exercise of these rights. There are usually numerous customs, not all directly related to legal ownership, which limit and direct the owner's behavior and determine his attitudes with respect to property. In other words, ownership in the social sense can best be understood as a more or less interrelated collection of culturally prescribed rights, duties, and beliefs concerning property.2 A systematic review of the material on the seventeenth-century Huron acquisition, use, and disposal of food and certain of the goods circulating in the fur trade (particularly wampum, furs, and small items of French manufacture) reveals an integration of these activities with aspects of culture not generally discussed in connection with property relationships in the anthropological literature. The resulting analysis is presented below to illustrate by a concrete example the manner in which such interrelationships may operate, and to suggest their broader applications in the study of property rights. Following an introductory discussion of Huron trade, the material is organized by the types of occasion on which substantial transfers of ownership took place-informal gift-giving, formal presentations, curing and burial ceremonies, theft, and gambling. In addition, two factors motivating the disposition of property, the sense of communal responsibility and the importance of generous gift-giving in determining social status and power, are discussed separately. HURON TRADE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY