Indians 101: A very short overview of the Northwest Coast potlatch

The Northwest Coast culture area stretches along the Pacific coast between the Cascade Mountains and the ocean. It extends north of California to Alaska. This is an area which is the home to many Indian nations who traditionally based their economy on the use of seacoast and river ecological resources. The Northwest Coast culture area stretches from the Tlingit homelands in Alaska to the Tolowa homelands in northern California.

The shaded area on the Maryhill Museum of Art map above shows the Northwest Coast culture area.

One of the cultural features of the Northwest Coast First Nations’ cultures is the potlatch. The potlatch is a ceremony featuring songs, dances, rituals, feasting, and the formal gifting of goods. Northwest Coast cultures were traditionally characterized by social stratification in which high ranking tribal members maintained their social status through displays of wealth and the distribution of this wealth to others. In Northwest Coast cultures, the potlatch was, and still is, an expression of this social stratification. Regarding high-ranking tribal members, anthropologist Edward Sapir, in a 1915 report reprinted in Indians of the North Pacific Coast: Studies in Selected Topics, writes:

“If he wishes to preserve the respect of his fellow tribesmen, he must at frequent intervals reassert his rank by displays of wealth, otherwise he incurs the risk of gradually losing the place that properly belongs to him on the score of inheritance.”

Shown above is a photo of a Tlingit potlatch which was displayed in the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, Washington.

The Northwest Coast cultures are organized around clans—named, extended family units which possess property and have a formal leader. In the potlatch, the clan leader (often called “chief” in the literature) called for the ceremonial telling of the clan history and the clan rights. In his book Native Arts of North America, Christian Feest reports:

“Special occasions for the validation of inherited rights, and for the display and redistribution of property, centered around the potlatch feasts, or lavish present-givings, which were held in winter when all the food was gathered in, and which were accompanied by songs, dances, and drama dealing with the grandeur of the host’s family and ancestry.”

Traditionally, only a chief could hold a potlatch. As hereditary Heiltsuk chief Harvey Humchitt, in Listening to Our Ancestors: The Art of Native Life Along the North Pacific Coast, writes:

“For all its marvelous spectacle, the potlatch was primarily a form of governance.”

During the potlatch, the chief’s privileges—names, songs, stories, and dances—would be recited. The guests would tacitly confirm the social relationships and history which was told. Without the validation of a potlatch the privileges of a change in social status were considered to be unearned and therefore could not be exercised. Museum curator Audrey Hawthorn, in her book Kwakiutl Art, writes:

“All the names, ranks, privileges, and honors of the lineage inheritance were meaningless without this formal ritual of hospitality and the acceptance of gifts by the guests.”

The guests at a potlatch see and experience the social business of the event, such as the inheritance of a name. They mentally record and validate that which has happened. In addition, the food which is served at the potlatch comes from all of the territories of the house and by consuming this food the guests acknowledge the house’s right to these lands and resources. In his book Lelooska, Randolph Falk puts it this way:

“It was in effect paying them as witnesses to the individual’s right to do these things—a public statement of a person’s rank and importance; by accepting the gifts, the guests acknowledged the rights of the host.”

Another Tlingit potlatch photo which was displayed in the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, Washington.

In his book The Jamestown S’Klallam Story:Rebuilding a Northwest Coast Indian Tribe, Joseph Stauss writes:

“The potlatch, as practiced by Northwest tribes, is an important ceremony that is integral to the social status of individuals. To amass wealth and give it away at a potlatch is a traditional value.”

In her entry on the Tlingit in the Encyclopedia of North American Indians, Rosita Worl writes:

“The Tlingit potlatch has been described as a ritualized competition in which clan leaders increase their status through the opulent consumption and distribution of goods and the destruction of property. While these activities were part of the traditional ceremonial activities of a potlatch, they were not its central elements. Basically, the Tlingit social and spiritual order is acted out in the traditional potlatch.”

Shown above is a Tlingit potlatch hat which was displayed in the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, Washington.

The word “potlatch” is the English version of the Nootkan word “p’alshit’” which means “to give.” Material wealth is important among the Indian nations of the Northwest Coast, but by giving things away at the potlatch, families and individuals gain status. In her book Kwakiutl Art, Audrey Hawthorn writes:

“The potlatch made possible a wide distribution of vast amounts of goods and kept them moving as various forms of wealth, both material and non-material, circulated among groups and individuals.”

Speaking of the Kwakiutl in the central area of the Northwest Coast, anthropologist Helen Codere, in her chapter in the Handbook of North American Indians, says:

“The potlatch was an institution that contributed to the integration and dynamic drive of Kwakiutl society by validating status and giving material manifestations to an expanding and changing network of social exchanges and reciprocities.”

The preparation for a chief’s potlatch would take several years. Each person in the tribe would make contributions based on their rank and each contribution was publicly announced. The chief, having the highest rank, would contribute the most, followed by his nephews who were in line to inherit his title. In non-chiefly potlatches, the chief would not contribute. According to anthropologist Jay Miller, in his book Tsimshian Culture: A Light through the Ages:

“Everyone expected to contribute to events hosted by the chief, but otherwise every host acted alone when sponsoring a feast.”

The potlatch itself often lasts for days with special songs for greeting the arriving guests and large quantities of food. During the several days of the potlatch, the hosts provide the guests with two large meals per day.

The goods given away at a potlatch included money, canoes, flour, kettles, dishes, Hudson’s Bay blankets, sewing machines, tables, slaves, and coppers. At traditional potlatches, coppers are the most prominent and important treasure items. According to anthropologist Franz Boas, in an 1895 article reprinted in Indians of the North Pacific Coast: Studies in Selected Topics:

“These coppers have the same function which bank notes of high denominations have with us.”

A copper is a sheet of beaten copper which is formed like a shield with a T-shaped ridge. The coppers are painted and then a design is incised through the paint. Each copper is named, and its value is determined by its potlatch history.

Gifts are distributed according to rank. Everyone who attends the potlatch is given something, but commoners receive only tokens. The chiefs and nobles would receive the most, and traditionally, the chiefs upon returning home would distribute what they had received to the members of their house, town, and tribe.

Potlatch Feast Dish

The food served at the potlatch came from all of the territories of the house and by consuming this food the guests acknowledged the house’s right to these lands and resources. Not only was food important, but there were also eating contests. The large bowls holding the food were family heirlooms which were named. In his book People of the Totem: The Indians of the Pacific Northwest, Norman Bancroft-Hunt reports:

“Sometimes bowls with tremendous dimensions, or even canoes full of food, were placed before a team from the opposing clan.”

The challenge, of course, was to eat all of the food.

Shown below is theDzunuk’wa Feast Dish made by Kwakwaka’wakw artist Yakuglas Charlie James(1875-1938), This dish is on display at the Portland Art Museum. According to the museum display:

“Highly creative and productive artist, Yakuglas Charlie James carved many pieces for traditional use within Kwakwaka’wakw (also called Kwakiutl) culture as well as hundreds of model totems and other pieces for the commercial market.”

Opposition to the Potlatch

Europeans, particularly the Christian missionaries, felt that a socially stratified society was the natural form of human societies. However, they felt that wealth was to be accumulated, not given away. Consequently, they were offended by the potlatch, feeling that it was immoral and contrary to the will of their god. As a result, the potlatch was banned in both Canada and the United States. In his book Traditional Exchange and Modern Markets, Cyril Belshaw reports:

“The potlatch was attacked by Canadian authorities as being wasteful and destructive of moral and economic initiative, in other words as standing in the way of development and modernization.”

In the United States, the potlatch was seen as being contrary to one of the important values of American society: greed. Since the American government felt it was important for Indian people to acquire greed, the giving away of property rather than accumulating it was viewed as an impediment to civilizing Indians. While the potlatch was declared illegal, Indian people continued the potlatch away from the eyes of the government and the missionaries.