[tirant]

Trading glass beads for gold can only be a scam if seen by a simplistic perspective.

Gold was abundant in America and not worth much for those tribes, but glass beads or mirrors were products of a technology not available to those natives, so for them the exchange was extremely valuable, as they were obtaining something unique and unavailable to hem in exchange of some shiny stones found everywhere.

[belval]

For the Carribbean tribes he made first contact with gold was somewhat of a big deal though as they could only get it by trade with other continental tribes. The first few people that he encountered weren't doing any kind of gold mining.