Potlatches

Potlatch is a ceremonial event among Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. It centers on the distribution of wealth and the reaffirmation of social status through gift-giving, feasting, and ritual performances. A host prepares a potlatch to mark significant occasions such as births, marriages, deaths, or the assumption of leadership, and to redistribute possessions, including blankets, copper plates, baskets, regalia, food, and other valuables, to guests and communities. By giving away wealth, the host demonstrates generosity and reinforces alliances, kinship ties, and governance structures, while recipients acknowledge status and reciprocity obligations.

Typical potlatch activities include public feasts, songs, dances, story-telling, and the display of crest regalia and masks. The event acts as a vehicle for social memory, genealogical record-keeping, and the negotiation of property and rank within the group. The practice spans many communities on the Pacific Northwest coast, including the Kwakwaka'wakw, Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Coast Salish peoples, among others.

Historically, potlatches were restricted or suppressed by colonial authorities in some areas during the 19th and early 20th centuries; in Canada, a ban operated from 1885 to 1951. Many communities later revived and adapt potlatch rites within contemporary cultural and legal contexts. Today, potlatches continue as important expressions of culture, language renewal, and social cohesion, often serving educational and ceremonial purposes while maintaining traditional meanings.