Potlatch

For other uses, see Potlatch (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Potluck.
The Kwakwaka'wakw continue the practice of potlatch. Illustrated here is Wawadit'la in Thunderbird Park, Victoria, B.C., a big house built by Chief Mungo Martin in 1953. Wealthy, prominent hosts would have a Big House specifically for potlatching and for housing guests.
Part of a series on
Economic, applied, and development
anthropology
Basic concepts
Provisioning systems
Case studies
Prestations
Gifting
Provisioning
Colonialism and development
Political economy
Related articles
Major theorists
Social and cultural anthropology

A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,[1] among whom it is traditionally the primary governmental institution, legislative body, and economic system.[clarification needed][2] This includes the Heiltsuk, Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit,[3] Makah, Tsimshian,[4] Nuu-chah-nulth,[5] Kwakwaka'wakw,[2] and Coast Salish cultures.[6] Potlatches are also a common feature of the peoples of the Interior and of the Subarctic adjoining the Northwest Coast, although mostly without the elaborate ritual and gift-giving economy 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, clan, and international connections, and the human connection with the supernatural world. Potlatch also serves as a strict resource management regime, where coastal peoples discuss, negotiate, and affirm rights to and uses of specific territories and resources.[7][8][9] Potlatches often involve music, dancing, singing, storytelling, making speeches, and often joking and games. The honouring of the supernatural and the recitation of oral histories are a central part of many potlatches.

From 1885 to 1951, the Government of Canada criminalized potlatches. However, the practice persisted underground despite the risk 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 bedrock of Indigenous governance, as in the Haida Nation, which has rooted its democracy in potlatch law.[10][11]

The word comes from the Chinook Jargon, meaning "to give away" or "a gift"; originally from the Nuu-chah-nulth word paɬaˑč, to make a ceremonial gift in a potlatch.[1]

  1. ^ a b Harkin, Michael E., 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 Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch. University of Washington Press 1991. ISBN 978-0-295-97114-8.
  3. ^ Chandonnet, Ann (2013). Alaska's Native Peoples. Anchorage: Arctic Circle Enterprises. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-933837-14-7.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Atleo, Richard. Tsawalk: A Nuu-chah-nulth Worldview, UBC Press; New Ed edition (February 28, 2005). ISBN 978-0-7748-1085-2
  6. ^ Matthews, Major J. S. (1955). Conversations with Khahtsahlano 1932–1954. pp. 190, 266, 267. ASIN B0007K39O2. Retrieved 2015-11-27.
  7. ^ Clutesi, George (May 1969). Potlatch (2 ed.). Victoria, BC: The Morriss Printing Company.
  8. ^ Davidson, Sara Florence (2018). Potlatch as Pedagogy (1 ed.). Winnipeg, Manitoba: Portage and Main. ISBN 978-1-55379-773-9.
  9. ^ Swanton, John R (1905). Contributions to the Ethnologies of the Haida (2 ed.). New York: EJ Brtill, Leiden, and GE Stechert. ISBN 0-404-58105-6.
  10. ^ "Constitution of the Haida Nation" (PDF). Council of the Haida Nation. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Haida Accord" (PDF). Retrieved 9 December 2019.