Community ownership
The Canadian Encyclopedia describes the potlatch as a ceremony integral to the governing structure, culture and spiritual traditions of various First Nations of the Northwest Coast, including the Kwakwaka’wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and Coast Salish, and of Dene in parts of the interior subarctic. Practice differed between nations; potlatches marked occasions such as marriages, births and funerals. Potlatch belongs to specific nations and families, so this site shows no ceremonial photographs and does not treat it as a workshop exercise.
Historical context
Canada banned the potlatch through an amendment to the Indian Act, passed in 1884 and in force from 1885 until it was removed in 1951. UBC’s Indigenous Foundations explains that officials and missionaries saw the sharing of wealth as an obstacle to assimilation and private-property ownership. After a 1921 potlatch hosted by ’Namgis Chief Dan Cranmer at Alert Bay, people were arrested and ceremonial belongings were confiscated. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes that the ban is now recognized as an aspect of cultural genocide, and that communities continued the practice, openly again after 1951.
Editorial approval
This page is marked under editorial review, with community review pending. For teaching in a community’s own voice, start with the U’mista Cultural Centre’s online exhibit on the Kwakwaka’wakw potlatch.