Project 57 Week 19: Potlatch

A Potlatch is a ceremony practiced First Nations living along the Northwest Coast and each have may have many unique functions and meanings. Often seen as a gift-giving exchange or celebration by outsiders, the potlatch has many culturally specific functions. William Lindsay who is from the Cree-Stoney Nations and is a retired educator from SFU, explains that “economic, political, social and cultural functions are fulfilled in the potlatch. Economically, the family who gave away surplus goods would be taken care of in the future during a downtime in their life” (The Potlatch, Paula Choudhury). Lindsay continues, stating that “most people don’t realize ... that economic, political, social, and cultural functions are fulfilled in the potlatch” (The Potlatch, Paula Choudhury). While practices may differ between communities, a Potlatch commemorates certain life events such as “a marriage, birth, memorial and other such memorable happenings” (The Potlatch, Paula Choudhury). Overall, the potlatch can be understood as a way for First Nation communities to establish social understanding, cultural practices, and economic and political relationships through the recognition of life events but also the interconnectedness of the people.  

In 1884, the Canadian Government, seeing the potlatch as a threat, “as anti-Christian, reckless and wasteful of personal property” banned the ceremony in “an amendment to the Indian Act” (The Canadian Encyclopedia). The government’s ban on potlatch was an attempt to assimilate First Nations into a and Christian way of life, completely failing to recognize the significance of the potlatch to the community. Truly failing to appreciate First Nation ways of life and knowledge and instead seeking to control and erase.  

The potlatch ban was repealed in 1951, and while not entirely lost, the ceremony, “traditional Indigenous identities” and “social relations” have been “disrupted” and “damaged” (The Canadian Encyclopedia). Today, potlatch continues and is reinvigorated by access to traditional regalia, masks, and belongings which are often loaned out to First Nations community members for ceremonies, such as through the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC.  

To learn more about Potlatch, check out the following resources

• “Bringing the Potlatch Home: Museums, repatriation and the Cranmer Potlatch” by Mathew McRae. June 12, 2018.
• Red River College - Potlatch Ceremony
• U’Mista Cultual Centre – Potlatch
• Potlatch economy: reciprocity among northwest coast Indians by Johnsen, D. Bruce
• Potlatch as pedagogy : learning through ceremony / Sara Florence Davidson and Robert Davidson. Sara Florence Davidson and Robert Davidson.