WTF

I was all set to type up a little semi agreeing comment about how it was a continent-spanning complex mixture of very different tribes with different cultures and practices, only some of whom practice slavery

But I don’t really know what I’m talking about so I read a little and I got distracted by this

Several tribes held captives as hostages for payment.[2][3] Various tribes also practiced debt slavery or imposed slavery on tribal members who had committed crimes; full tribal status would be restored as the enslaved worked off their obligations to the tribal society.[2][3]

Slaves would sometimes be killed in potlatches, to signify the owners’ contempt for property.[citation needed]

And this

Captive-taking was most often used to replace a dead loved one within the family with a new person. The captive would then take on this deceased person’s sexual or labour-related capacities.

What the fuck was going on with the Native Americans