potlatch
Wealth redistribution feast
A potlatch is a ceremonial feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, traditionally involving elaborate gift-giving or destruction of property to display wealth and establish social status.
The host's prestige increased by giving away or destroying more than guests could reciprocate.
The term sometimes extends to any lavish gift-giving gathering: The office holiday party turned into a potlatch of white elephant exchanges.
Mutual giving and receiving
- generosityReadiness to give freely
- blanketSoft bed covering
- givingTransferring to another
- redistributionSharing out again differently
coppers · canoes · beads · handicraft · keepsake · basketry · carving · weaving
Abundance of money
- prosperityGood fortune, success
- abundanceAmple supply, overflowing
- opulenceShowy, abundant prosperity
- coppersPennies or bobbies
resources · redistribution · assets · treasure · valuables · accumulation · display · destruction
Collection of people meeting
- celebrationFestive event marking occasion
- traditionCustom passed through generations
- customHabitual group practice
- commemorationAct of honoring memory
rites · ritual · dance · chants · regalia · sacred · spiritual · communal
Northwest Coast indigenous people
- SalishNorthwest Coast indigenous group
- Pacific NorthwestCoastal American region, northward
- First NationsCanada's non-Inuit indigenous peoples
- clanRelated group sharing ancestry
tribe · totem · longhouse · canoe · cedar · kinship · lineage · matrilineal
One's relative position
- honorHigh regard, moral dignity
- rankPosition in hierarchy
- recognitionPerceiving something as known
- nobilityTitled ruling class
dignity · privilege · esteem · standing · hierarchy · titles · naming · claims
Formal celebratory meal
- salmonPink-fleshed migratory fish
- berriesSmall fleshy fruits
- feastingEating sumptuously together
- clambakeOutdoor seaside shellfish meal
nourishment · abundance · hospitality · dining · venison · halibut · seaweed · smoked fish
exchange
Mutual giving and receiving
- generosityReadiness to give freely
- blanketSoft bed covering
- givingTransferring to another
redistribution · coppers · canoes · beads · handicraft · keepsake · basketry · carving · weaving · bentwood
affluence
Abundance of money
- prosperityGood fortune, success
- abundanceAmple supply, overflowing
- opulenceShowy, abundant prosperity
coppers · resources · redistribution · assets · treasure · valuables · accumulation · display · destruction · rivalry
gathering
Collection of people meeting
- celebrationFestive event marking occasion
- traditionCustom passed through generations
- customHabitual group practice
commemoration · rites · ritual · dance · chants · regalia · sacred · spiritual · communal · ancestral
Haida
Northwest Coast indigenous people
- SalishNorthwest Coast indigenous group
- Pacific NorthwestCoastal American region, northward
- First NationsCanada's non-Inuit indigenous peoples
clan · tribe · totem · longhouse · canoe · cedar · kinship · lineage · matrilineal · moiety
status
One's relative position
- honorHigh regard, moral dignity
- rankPosition in hierarchy
- recognitionPerceiving something as known
nobility · dignity · privilege · esteem · standing · hierarchy · titles · naming · claims · succession
banquet
Formal celebratory meal
clambake · nourishment · abundance · hospitality · dining · venison · halibut · seaweed · smoked fish
- traditionstradition, custom, customs, cultural practices, rituals
- AlaskaFairbanks, Juneau, Denali, Sitka, Kodiak
- cultural traditionsflamenco, tango, kabuki, hula, capoeira
- ceremonieswedding ceremony, wedding, weddings, graduation, graduations
- feastsbanquet, wedding feast, thanksgiving feast, thanksgiving dinner, Easter feast
- social ritualswedding, funeral, greeting, farewell, christening
potlatchaccumulation
Collected mass over time
hoarding · miserliness · avarice · stockpiling · acquisitiveness
potlatchacquisition
Act of obtaining something
amassing · penny-pinching · parsimony · stinginess · greed