potlatches
Northwest gift ceremonies
Potlatches are ceremonial gatherings of Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, centered on gift-giving, feasting, and the redistribution of wealth.
Hosts demonstrate status and generosity by giving away or destroying possessions.
The practice was banned by Canadian and U.S. governments in the late 19th century but has since been restored.
By extension, any lavish gift-giving celebration: The wedding reception was a potlatch of excess.
Elaborate ceremonial meal
- gift-givingOffering presents to others
- redistributionSharing out again differently
- blanketsFabric bed coverings
- coppersPennies or bobbies
totem · canoe · regalia · dancing · singing · masks · honor · prestige
Sharing out again differently
- reciprocityMutual exchange of actions
- gift economyGiving without explicit repayment
- statusOne's relative position
- rankPosition in hierarchy
surplus · obligation · generosity · exchange · social capital · communal · debt · repayment
Northwest Coast indigenous people
- SalishNorthwest Coast indigenous group
- Northwest CoastWestern seaboard's northern stretch
- First NationsCanada's non-Inuit indigenous peoples
- clanRelated group sharing ancestry
tribe · elders · traditions · oral history · cultural revival · hereditary rights · salmon · cedar
Official restriction on something
- prohibitionAuthoritative legal ban
- 1885A specific year
- assimilationAbsorbing into a whole
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
confiscation · resistance · underground · criminalization · museums · repatriation · anthropology · missionaries
feast
Elaborate ceremonial meal
- gift-givingOffering presents to others
- redistributionSharing out again differently
- blanketsFabric bed coverings
coppers · totem · canoe · regalia · dancing · singing · masks · honor · prestige · hosting
redistribution
Sharing out again differently
- reciprocityMutual exchange of actions
- gift economyGiving without explicit repayment
- statusOne's relative position
rank · surplus · obligation · generosity · exchange · social capital · communal · debt · repayment · abundance
Haida
Northwest Coast indigenous people
- SalishNorthwest Coast indigenous group
- Northwest CoastWestern seaboard's northern stretch
- First NationsCanada's non-Inuit indigenous peoples
clan · tribe · elders · traditions · oral history · cultural revival · hereditary rights · salmon · cedar · Pacific
ban
Official restriction on something
- prohibitionAuthoritative legal ban
- 1885A specific year
- assimilationAbsorbing into a whole
colonialism · confiscation · resistance · underground · criminalization · museums · repatriation · anthropology · missionaries · residential schools
- indigenous traditionselder council, powwows, totem poles, healing rituals, sweat lodges
potlatcheshoarding
Excessive accumulation of goods
wealth accumulation · miserliness · stockpiling · avarice · penny-pinching
potlatchescapitalism
Private profit-based economy
mercantilism · private property · enclosure · commodity exchange · privatization
potlatchestax collection
Obtaining owed government payments
levies · confiscation · requisitions · exactions · requisitioning