We sometimes hear that the marginalization of Indigenous Peoples is a result of their weakness in the free market system of global trade. Yet one might ask how that market system really works, since it is not "free," but is coerced by war and other interventions.

This is an old story: countries with large means of coercion exploit countries with numerous resources. Colonization is the prime example, but the mechanisms of global finance serve just as well. As Indigenous peoples awake to their plight, and especially as they take action to redress their marginalization, some global actors—including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank—respond with efforts to reduce this marginalization, if only to smooth the process of resource extraction.

International institutions and managers of global trade are increasingly concerned about the deleterious effects of marginalization and exclusion, not simply on those who are marginalized and excluded, but on the whole system of international trade and relations. Even organizations that benefit from marginalizing others are concerned; indeed, this group may be the most concerned, because their position atop the world's hierarchy is threatened by disruptions at lower levels.