A Small, Family-oriented Group of Aboriginal Foragers Is Called

Gift-giving festival and economic arrangement

A potlatch is a gift-giving banquet practiced past Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the U.s.,^[1] among whom it is traditionally the primary governmental establishment, legislative body, and economic system.^[2] This includes the Heiltsuk, Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Makah, Tsimshian,^[iii] Nuu-chah-nulth,^[4] Kwakwaka'wakw,^[two] and Coast Salish cultures.^[5] Potlatches are also a common feature of the peoples of the Interior and of the Subarctic adjoining the Northwest Declension, although generally without the elaborate ritual and gift-giving economic system of the coastal peoples (see Athabaskan potlatch).

A potlatch involves giving away or destroying wealth or valuable items in order to demonstrate a leader's wealth and power. Potlatches are also focused on the reaffirmation of family unit, clan, and international connections, and the man connection with the supernatural world. Potlatch also serves as a strict resources management regime, where littoral peoples discuss, negotiate, and affirm rights to and uses of specific territories and resources.^{[6] [seven] [8]} Potlatches often involve music, dancing, singing, storytelling, making speeches, and oft joking and games. The honouring of the supernatural and the recitation of oral histories are a central function of many potlatches.

From 1885 to 1951, the Government of Canada criminalized potlatches. However, the exercise persisted underground despite the chance of government reprisals including mandatory jail sentences of at least two months; the practice has also been studied by many anthropologists. Since the practice was decriminalized in 1951, the potlatch has re-emerged in some communities. In many it is still the boulder of Indigenous governance, as in the Haida Nation, which has rooted its republic in potlatch law.^{[9] [10]}

The give-and-take comes from the Chinook Jargon, significant "to requite abroad" or "a gift"; originally from the Nuu-chah-nulth discussion paɬaˑč, to make a formalism gift in a potlatch.^[i]

Overview [edit]

Speaker Figure, 19th century, Brooklyn Museum, the figure represents a speaker at a potlatch. An orator standing behind the effigy would have spoken through its mouth, announcing the names of arriving guests.

Northward.B. This overview concerns the Kwakwaka'wakw potlatch. Potlatch traditions and formalities and kinship systems in other cultures of the region differ, ofttimes essentially.

A potlatch was held on the occasion of births, deaths, adoptions, weddings, and other major events. Typically the potlatch was practiced more in the wintertime seasons as historically the warmer months were for procuring wealth for the family unit, clan, or village, and then coming dwelling house and sharing that with neighbors and friends. The event was hosted by a numaym, or 'House', in Kwakwaka'wakw culture. A numaym was a complex cognatic kin group unremarkably headed past aristocrats, but including commoners and occasional slaves. Information technology had near one hundred members and several would be grouped together into a nation. The House drew its identity from its ancestral founder, commonly a mythical animal who descended to earth and removed his creature mask, thus becoming human. The mask became a family unit heirloom passed from begetter to son along with the name of the antecedent himself. This fabricated him the leader of the numaym, considered the living incarnation of the founder.^{[11] : 192}

Only rich people could host a potlatch. Tribal slaves were not allowed to attend a potlatch as a host or a guest. In some instances, it was possible to have multiple hosts at one potlatch ceremony (although when this occurred the hosts generally tended to be from the same family). If a member of a nation had suffered an injury or indignity, hosting a potlatch could help to heal their tarnished reputation (or "encompass his shame", as anthropologist H. 1000. Barnett worded it).^[12] The potlatch was the occasion on which titles associated with masks and other objects were "fastened on" to a new office holder. Two kinds of titles were transferred on these occasions. Firstly, each numaym had a number of named positions of ranked "seats" (which gave them a seat at potlatches) transferred within itself. These ranked titles granted rights to hunting, angling and berrying territories.^{[eleven] : 198} Secondly, at that place were a number of titles that would exist passed between numayma, usually to in-laws, which included banquet names that gave 1 a part in the Wintertime Ceremonial.^{[11] : 194} Aristocrats felt safe giving these titles to their out-marrying daughter's children considering this daughter and her children would afterwards be rejoined with her natal numaym and the titles returned with them.^{[xi] : 201} Any ane individual might take several "seats" which allowed them to sit down, in rank order, according to their title, as the host displayed and distributed wealth and made speeches. Besides the transfer of titles at a potlatch, the outcome was given "weight" by the distribution of other less important objects such every bit Chilkat blankets, animal skins (after Hudson Bay blankets) and ornamental "coppers". It is the distribution of large numbers of Hudson Bay blankets, and the destruction of valued coppers that first drew regime attention (and censure) to the potlatch.^{[xi] : 205} On occasion, preserved nutrient was besides given equally a gift during a potlatch ceremony. Gifts known as sta-bigs consisted of preserved food that was wrapped in a mat or contained in a storage basket.^[13]

Dorothy Johansen describes the dynamic: "In the potlatch, the host in effect challenged a invitee chieftain to exceed him in his 'power' to give away or to destroy appurtenances. If the guest did not return 100 percent on the gifts received and destroy even more wealth in a bigger and better bonfire, he and his people lost face and and so his 'ability' was diminished."^[14] Hierarchical relations within and between clans, villages, and nations, were observed and reinforced through the distribution or sometimes destruction of wealth, dance performances, and other ceremonies. The condition of whatsoever given family is raised not past who has the near resource, but past who distributes the well-nigh resource. The hosts demonstrate their wealth and prominence through giving away goods.

Potlatch ceremonies were as well used as coming-of-age rituals. When children were built-in, they would be given their first name at the time of their nascency (which was unremarkably associated with the location of their birthplace). About a year later, the kid's family would concord a potlatch and give gifts to the guests in attendance on behalf of the child. During this potlatch, the family would give the child their second name. Once the child reached about 12 years of historic period, they were expected to concord a potlatch of their ain by giving out pocket-sized gifts that they had collected to their family and people, at which indicate they would be able to receive their 3rd name.^[15]

For some cultures, such as Kwakwaka'wakw, elaborate and theatrical dances are performed reflecting the hosts' genealogy and cultural wealth. Many of these dances are likewise sacred ceremonies of hush-hush societies like the hamatsa, or display of family origin from supernatural creatures such equally the dzunukwa.

Chief O'wax̱a̱laga̱lis of the Kwagu'ł describes the potlatch in his famous speech to anthropologist Franz Boas,

We will dance when our laws command us to trip the light fantastic toe, nosotros will feast when our hearts desire to feast. Do we ask the white man, 'Do equally the Indian does'? No, we practice not. Why, then, will you ask us, 'Do every bit the white man does'? It is a strict law that bids us to dance. It is a strict law that bids u.s. to distribute our holding among our friends and neighbors. It is a good law. Let the white man observe his police; we shall detect ours. And now, if you are come to forbid us to trip the light fantastic, begone; if not, you volition be welcome to us.^[16]

Among the various First Nations groups which inhabited the region forth the coast, a variety of differences existed in regards to practises relating to the potlatch anniversary. Each nation, community, and sometimes association maintained its own mode of practicing the potlatch with diverse presentation and meaning. The Tlingit and Kwakiutl nations of the Pacific Northwest, for example, held potlatch ceremonies for different occasions. The Tlingit potlatches occurred for succession (the granting of tribal titles or land) and funerals. The Kwakiutl potlatches, on the other hand, occurred for marriages and incorporating new people into the nation (i.east., the birth of a new member of the nation.)^[17] The potlatch, as an overarching term, is quite general, since some cultures accept many words in their language for diverse specific types of gatherings. It is of import to keep this variation in heed as almost of our detailed cognition of the potlatch was acquired from the Kwakwaka'wakw around Fort Rupert on Vancouver Island in the catamenia 1849 to 1925, a period of groovy social transition in which many aspects of the potlatch became exacerbated in reaction to efforts past the Canadian authorities to culturally digest Offset Nations communities into the dominant white culture.^{[11] : 188–208}

History [edit]

Prior to European colonization, gifts included storable food (oolichan, or candlefish, oil or dried food), canoes, slaves, and ornamental "coppers" among aristocrats, merely non resource-generating assets such as hunting, fishing and berrying territories. Coppers were sheets of beaten copper, shield-like in advent; they were nigh ii feet long, wider on top, cruciform frame and schematic face on the elevation half. None of the copper used was e'er of Indigenous metal. A copper was considered the equivalent of a slave. They were only always endemic by individual aristocrats, and never by numaym, hence could circulate between groups. Coppers began to be produced in large numbers after the colonization of Vancouver Island in 1849 when state of war and slavery were ended.^{[11] : 206}

Example of an ornamental copper used at a potlatch

The arrival of Europeans resulted in the introduction of numerous diseases against which Indigenous peoples had no immunity, resulting in a massive population decline. Competition for the fixed number of potlatch titles grew as commoners began to seek titles from which they had previously been excluded by making their ain remote or dubious claims validated past a potlatch. Aristocrats increased the size of their gifts in order to retain their titles and maintain social bureaucracy.^[18] This resulted in massive inflation in gifting made possible by the introduction of mass-produced merchandise goods in the tardily 18th and earlier 19th centuries. Archaeological evidence for the potlatching ceremony is suggested from the ~1,000 year-erstwhile Pickupsticks site in interior Alaska.^[19]

Potlatch ban [edit]

Potlatching was fabricated illegal in Canada in 1884 in an amendment to the Indian Human action,^[20] largely at the urging of missionaries and regime agents who considered information technology "a worse than useless custom" that was seen as wasteful, unproductive, and contrary to 'civilized values' of aggregating.^[21] The potlatch was seen every bit a fundamental target in assimilation policies and agendas. Missionary William Duncan wrote in 1875 that the potlatch was "by far the most formidable of all obstacles in the fashion of Indians becoming Christians, or even civilized".^[22] Thus in 1884, the Indian Deed was revised to include clauses banning the Potlatch and making it illegal to practise. Section iii of the Act read,

Every Indian or other person who engages in or assists in celebrating the Indian festival known as the "Potlatch" or the Indian trip the light fantastic known as the "Tamanawas" is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term non more than than half dozen nor less than two months in any gaol or other place of solitude; and, whatsoever Indian or other person who encourages, either directly or indirectly, an Indian or Indians to get up such a festival or dance, or to celebrate the same, or who shall help in the celebration of same is guilty of a like offence, and shall be liable to the same punishment.^[23]

In 1888, the anthropologist Franz Boas described the potlatch ban every bit a failure:

The second reason for the discontent among the Indians is a law that was passed, some time agone, forbidding the celebrations of festivals. The so-called potlatch of all these tribes hinders the single families from accumulating wealth. It is the great desire of every chief and even of every man to collect a large amount of property, and so to give a great potlatch, a banquet in which all is distributed among his friends, and, if possible, among the neighboring tribes. These feasts are so closely connected with the religious ideas of the natives, and regulate their fashion of life to such an extent, that the Christian tribes near Victoria have not given them up. Every present received at a potlatch has to be returned at another potlatch, and a man who would not give his feast in due time would be considered as not paying his debts. Therefore the law is not a good one, and can not exist enforced without causing general discontent. Besides, the Government is unable to enforce it. The settlements are so numerous, and the Indian agencies and so large, that there is nobody to prevent the Indians doing whatsoever they like.^[24]

Eventually the potlatch law, equally it became known, was amended to be more inclusive and address technicalities that had led to dismissals of prosecutions past the court. Legislation included guests who participated in the ceremony. The Indigenous people were too large to police and the police force too difficult to enforce. Duncan Campbell Scott convinced Parliament to change the offence from criminal to summary, which meant "the agents, every bit justice of the peace, could try a case, convict, and judgement".^[25] Even and then, except in a few small areas, the police was generally perceived as harsh and untenable. Even the Indian agents employed to enforce the legislation considered it unnecessary to prosecute, convinced instead that the potlatch would diminish as younger, educated, and more "avant-garde" Indians took over from the older Indians, who clung tenaciously to the custom.^[26]

Persistence [edit]

The potlatch ban was repealed in 1951.^[27] Sustaining the customs and culture of their ancestors, Indigenous people now openly hold potlatches to commit to the restoring of their ancestors' ways. Potlatches now occur frequently and increasingly more over the years as families repossess their birthright. Anthropologist Sergei Kan was invited by the Tlingit nation to nourish several potlatch ceremonies betwixt 1980 and 1987 and observed several similarities and differences betwixt traditional and contemporary potlatch ceremonies. Kan notes that at that place was a language gap during the ceremonies between the older members of the nation and the younger members of the nation (age fifty and younger) due to the fact that virtually of the younger members of the nation practise not speak the Tlingit language. Kan also notes that unlike traditional potlatches, contemporary Tlingit potlatches are no longer obligatory, resulting in only about 30% of the developed tribal members opting to participate in the ceremonies that Kan attended between 1980 and 1987. Despite these differences, Kan stated that he believed that many of the essential elements and spirit of the traditional potlatch were still present in the gimmicky Tlingit ceremonies.^[28]

Anthropological theory [edit]

In his book The Gift, the French ethnologist, Marcel Mauss used the term potlatch to refer to a whole set of exchange practices in tribal societies characterized by "full prestations", i.e., a arrangement of gift giving with political, religious, kinship and economical implications.^[29] These societies' economies are marked by the competitive exchange of gifts, in which gift-givers seek to out-give their competitors then as to capture important political, kinship and religious roles. Other examples of this "potlatch type" of gift economy include the Kula ring establish in the Trobriand Islands.^{[xi] : 188–208}

Come across also [edit]

• Competitive altruism
• Conspicuous consumption
• Guy Debord, French Situationist writer on the subject of potlatch and article reification.
• Izikhothane
• Koha, a similar concept among the Māori
• Kula band
• List of bibliographical materials on the potlatch
• Moka exchange, a similar concept in Papua New Guinea
• Potluck ("potluck" is the older term in English, but folk etymology has derived the term "potluck" from the Native American custom of potlatch)
• Pow wow, a gathering whose name is derived from the Narragansett word for "spiritual leader"

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b} Harkin, Michael Due east., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Neil J. Smelser and Paul B. Baltes, eds., vol 17, pp. 11885-11889. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
2. ^ ^{a b} Aldona Jonaitis. Chiefly Feasts: The Indelible Kwakiutl Potlatch. University of Washington Press 1991. ISBN 978-0-295-97114-8.
3. ^ Seguin, Margaret (1986) "Understanding Tsimshian 'Potlatch.'" In: Native Peoples: The Canadian Experience, ed. by R. Bruce Morrison and C. Roderick Wilson, pp. 473–500. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
4. ^ Atleo, Richard. Tsawalk: A Nuu-chah-nulth Worldview, UBC Printing; New Ed edition (Feb 28, 2005). ISBN 978-0-7748-1085-2
5. ^ Matthews, Major J. S. (1955). Conversations with Khahtsahlano 1932–1954. pp. 190, 266, 267. ASIN B0007K39O2. Retrieved 2015-11-27 .
6. ^ Clutesi, George (May 1969). Potlatch (2 ed.). Victoria, BC: The Morriss Printing Visitor.
7. ^ Davidson, Sara Florence (2018). Potlatch as Educational activity (1 ed.). Winnipeg, Manitoba: Portage and Principal. ISBN978-ane-55379-773-9.
8. ^ Swanton, John R (1905). Contributions to the Ethnologies of the Haida (2 ed.). New York: EJ Brtill, Leiden, and GE Stechert. ISBN0-404-58105-half dozen.
9. ^ "Constitution of the Haida Nation" (PDF). Council of the Haida Nation. Retrieved ix Dec 2019.
10. ^ "Haida Accord" (PDF) . Retrieved 9 December 2019.
11. ^ ^{a b c d e f 1000 h} Graeber, David (2001). Toward an Anthropological Theory of Value: The False Coin of our own Dreams. New York: Palgrave.
12. ^ Barnett, H. K. (1938). "The Nature of the Potlatch". American Anthropologist. 40 (3): 349–358. doi:10.1525/aa.1938.twoscore.3.02a00010.
13. ^ Snyder, Sally (April 1975). "Quest for the Sacred in Northern Puget Sound: An Interpretation of Potlatch". Ethnology. xiv (2): 149–161. doi:10.2307/3773086. JSTOR 3773086.
14. ^ Dorothy O. Johansen, Empire of the Columbia: A History of the Pacific Northwest, 2nd ed., (New York: Harper & Row, 1967), pp. 7–eight.
15. ^ McFeat, Tom (1978). Indians of the North Pacific Coast. McGill-Queen's Academy Press. pp. 72–fourscore.
16. ^ Franz Boas, "The Indians of British Columbia," The Popular Science Monthly, March 1888 (vol. 32), p. 631.
17. ^ Rosman, Abraham (1972). "The Potlatch: A Structural Analysis 1". American Anthropologist. 74 (three): 658–671. doi:10.1525/aa.1972.74.iii.02a00280.
18. ^ (1) Boyd (2) Cole & Chaikin
19. ^ Smith, Gerad (2020). Ethnoarchaeology of the Eye Tanana Valley, Alaska. ProQuest.
20. ^ An Act further to better "The Indian Act, 1880," S.C. 1884 (47 Vict.), c. 27, s. 3.
21. ^ Thou. 1000. Sproat, quoted in Douglas Cole and Ira Chaikin, An Fe Paw upon the People: The Police force against the Potlatch on the Northwest Coast (Vancouver and Toronto 1990), 15
22. ^ Robin Fisher, Contact and Conflict: Indian-European Relations in British Columbia, 1774–1890, Vancouver, Academy of British Columbia Press, 1977, 207.
23. ^ An Human action further to amend "The Indian Act, 1880," South.C. 1884 (47 Vict.), c. 27, s. 3. Reproduced in n.41, Bell, Catherine (2008). "Recovering from Colonization: Perspectives of Customs Members on Protection and Repatriation of Kwakwaka'wakw Cultural Heritage". In Bong, Catherine; Val Napoleon (eds.). Offset Nations Cultural Heritage and Law: Case Studies, Voices, and Perspectives. Vancouver: UBC Press. p. 89. ISBN978-0-7748-1462-1 . Retrieved half-dozen February 2011.
24. ^ Franz Boas, "The Indians of British Columbia," The Popular Scientific discipline Monthly, March 1888 (vol. 32), p. 636.
25. ^ Aldona Jonaitis, Importantly Feasts: the Indelible Kwakiutl Potlatch, Seattle, University of Washington Printing, 1991, 159.
26. ^ Douglas Cole and Ira Chaikin, An Atomic number 26 Paw upon the People: The Law against the Potlatch on the Northwest Declension (Vancouver and Toronto 1990), Determination
27. ^ Gadacz, René R. "Potlatch". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved 27 November 2013.
28. ^ Kan, Sergei (1989). "Cohorts, Generations, and their Culture: The Tlingit Potlatch in the 1980s". Anthropos: International Review of Anthropology and Linguistics. 84: 405–422.
29. ^ Godelier, Maurice (1996). The Enigma of the Souvenir. Cambridge, U.k.: Polity Press. pp. 147–61.

External links [edit]

• U'mista Museum of potlatch artifacts.
• Potlatch An exhibition from the Peabody Museum, Harvard University.
• Academy of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Oliver Due south. Van Olinda Photographs A collection of photographs depicting life on Vashon Island, Whidbey Isle, Seattle and other communities around Puget Sound, Washington, Photographs of Native American activities such as documentation of a potlatch on Whidbey Island.

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potlatch

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