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Potlatch
A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Neil J. Smelser and Paul B. Baltes, eds., vol 17, pp. 11885-11889. Oxford: Pergamon Press. among whom it is traditionally the primary governmental institution, legislative body, and gift economy, economic system.Aldona Jonaitis. ''Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch''. University of Washington Press 1991. . This includes the Heiltsuk Nation, Heiltsuk, Haida people, Haida, Nuxalk Nation, Nuxalk, Tlingit people, Tlingit, Makah people, Makah, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth people, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, and Coast Salish peoples, Coast Salish cultures. Potlatches are also a common feature of the peoples of the Interior and of the Subarctic adjoining the Northwest Coast, although mostly without the elaborate ritual and gift-giv ...
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Athabaskan Potlatch
The traditional potlatch among Athabaskan peoples was a gathering that combined aspects of competition, peacekeeping and a show of wealth.Laurence A. Goldin, ''The Land is Ours'', 1996, Auroroa Films History The traditional Athabaskan potlatch had "social, religious and economic significance."William Simeone, ''A History of Alaskan Athapaskans'', 1982, Alaska Historical Commission It was a gathering that combined aspects of competition, peacekeeping and a show of wealth. During a potlatch, members of the society with a surplus of food and supplies provide these for all members of a clan, and in situations with other clans this sharing of resources is either a competitive showing or one of creating loyalties, and sometimes both simultaneously. Traditionally the village was centered on the chiefs' house, and this is where potlatches were held. This was because the chief had the biggest cache where the food was stored.A.E. Stephan, ''The First Athabascans of Alaska:Strawberries'', 1996 ...
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Potlatch Ban
The potlatch ban was legislation forbidding the practice of the potlatch passed by the Government of Canada, begun in 1885 and lasting until 1951. Some first Nations saw the law as an instrument of intolerance and injustice. "Second only to the taking of land without extinguishing Indian title; the outlawing of the potlatch can be seen as the extreme to which Euro-Canadian society used its dominance against its aboriginal subjects in British Columbia." Other first Nation groups supported the bans. Though often ignored and circumvented, the ban remained in Canadian legal codes until 1951, when Section 149 was deleted from a revision of the ''Indian Act''. Arrests for charges under the Act were few until 1921, when a raid on the village of Memkumlis held by Chief Dan Cranmer saw the arrest and charges laid against 45 people; of these 22 were given suspended sentences (three were remanded on appeal) and 20 men and women sent to Oakalla Prison in Burnaby. The sentences were two mon ...
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Haida People
The Haida (, , , , ) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. They constitute one of 203 First Nations in British Columbia and 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, tribes in Alaska. Their traditional territory include Haida Gwaii, an archipelago off the coast of British Columbia, and the southern half of Prince of Wales Island (Alaska), Prince of Wales Island, in Southeast Alaska. Their language is Haida language, Haida, a linguistic isolate. The Haida are known for their craftsmanship, trading skills, and seamanship. They are known to have frequently carried out raids and History of slavery#Among indigenous peoples, to have practiced slavery. In Canada, the Haida are represented by Council of the Haida Nation, Council of the Haida Nation (CHN), in addition to the two village band governments, Old Massett Village Council and Skidegate Band Council. Federally recognized Haida tribes in the United States include the Cent ...
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Indigenous Peoples Of The Pacific Northwest Coast
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and practices, such as the centrality of salmon as a resource and spiritual symbol, and many cultivation and subsistence practices. The term ''Northwest Coast'' or ''North West Coast'' is used in anthropology to refer to the groups of Indigenous people residing along the coast of what is now called British Columbia, Washington (state), Washington State, parts of Alaska, Oregon, and Northern California. The term ''Pacific Northwest'' is largely used in the American context. At one point, the region had the highest population density of a region inhabited by Indigenous peoples in Canada.Aboriginal Identity (8), Sex (3) and Age Groups (12) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 ...
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Nuu-chah-nulth People
The Nuu-chah-nulth ( ; ), also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht, are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in Canada. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifteen related tribes whose traditional home is on the west coast of Vancouver Island. In precontact and early post-contact times, the number of tribes was much greater, but the smallpox epidemics and other consequences of contact with Europeans resulted in the disappearance of some groups and the absorption of others into neighbouring groups. The Nuu-chah-nulth are related to the Kwakwaka'wakw, the Haisla, and the Ditidaht First Nation. The Nuu-chah-nulth language belongs to the Wakashan family. The governing body is the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. History Contact with Europeans When James Cook first encountered the villagers at Yuquot in 1778, they directed him to "come around" (Nuu-chah-nulth ''nuutkaa'' is "to circle around")Campbell, Lyle ...
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Tsimshian
The Tsimshian (; ) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace, British Columbia, Terrace and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Prince Rupert, and Metlakatla, Alaska on Annette Island, the only reservation in Alaska. The Tsimshian estimate there are 45,000 Tsimshian people and approximately 10,000 members are federally registered in eight First Nations communities: Kitselas First Nation, Kitselas'','' Kitsumkalum First Nation, Kitsumkalum'','' Gitxaala Nation, Gitxaala'','' Gitga'at First Nation, Gitga'at, Kitasoo/Xaixais First Nation, Kitasoo, Lax-kw'alaams First Nation, Lax Kw'Alaams'','' and Metlakatla First Nation, Metlakatla. The latter two communities resulted in the colonial intersections of early settlers and consist of Tsimshian people belonging to the 'nine tribes.' The Tsimshian are one of the largest First Nations peop ...
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Gift Economy
A gift economy or gift culture is a system of exchange where valuables are not sold, but rather given without an explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards. Social norms and customs govern giving a gift in a gift culture; although there is some expectation of reciprocity, gifts are not given in an explicit exchange of goods or services for money, or some other good or service.R. Kranton: ''Reciprocal exchange: a self-sustaining system'', American Economic Review, V. 86 (1996), Issue 4 (September), pp. 830–851 This contrasts with a market economy or bartering, where goods and services are primarily explicitly exchanged for value received. The nature of gift economies is the subject of a foundational debate in anthropology. Anthropological research into gift economies began with Bronisław Malinowski's description of the Kula ring in the Trobriand Islands during World War I. The Kula trade appeared to be gift-like since Trobrianders would travel great distances over ...
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Coast Salish Peoples
The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the Coast Salish languages. The Coast Salish are a large, loose grouping of many nations with numerous distinct cultures and languages. Territory claimed by Coast Salish peoples span from the northern limit of the Salish Sea on the inside of Vancouver Island and covers most of southern Vancouver Island, all of the Lower Mainland and most of Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula (except for territories of the Chemakum people). Their traditional territories coincide with modern major metropolitan areas, namely Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle. The Tillamook or Nehalem around Tillamook, Oregon are the southernmost of the Coast Salish peoples. Coast Salish cultures differ considerably from those of their northern neighbours. Th ...
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Dzunukwa
Dzunuḵ̓wa (pronounced "zoo-noo-kwah"), also Tsonoqua, Tsonokwa, Basket Ogress, is a figure in Kwakwakaʼwakw mythology and Nuu-chah-nulth mythology. Description She is an ancestor of the Namgis clan through her son, Tsilwalagame. She is venerated as a bringer of wealth, but is also greatly feared by children, because she is also known as an ogress who steals children and carries them home in her basket to eat. Her appearance is that of a naked old monster, black in colour, with long pendulous breasts. She is also described as having bedraggled hair. In masks and totem pole images she is shown with bright red pursed lips because she is said to give the call "Hu!" It is often told to children that the sound of the wind blowing through the Thuja plicata, cedar trees is actually the call of Dzunuḵ̓wa. Some myths say that she is able to bring herself back from the dead (an ability which she uses in some myths to revive her children) and regenerate any wound. She has limited ...
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Nuxalk Nation
The Nuxalk Nation is the band government of the Nuxalk people of Bella Coola, British Columbia. It is a member of the Wuikinuxv-Kitasoo-Nuxalk Tribal Council, and until March 2008 was a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. Etymology "Nuxalk" is singular; "Nuxalkmc" is plural. Community Q'umk'uts', a Nuxalk community that is located at the confluence of the Bella Coola River and the Pacific Ocean is currently home to the majority of the Nuxalk population, is located in the Bella Coola Valley, in British Columbia. It is on the Nation's primary reserve (which is much smaller than the Nation's traditional territory), adjacent to the Bella Coola "townsite", the Central business district for the Valley. Nuxalk Hall is a community center, where potlatches and social events are held. The Nuxalk Basketball Association hosts games in the hall. The Nuxalkmc were wrongfully categorized as Coast Salish. Today the Nuxalkmc are classified under their own distinc ...
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Makah People
The Makah (; Makah: ') are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast living in Washington, in the northwestern part of the continental United States. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah Indian Reservation, commonly known as the Makah Tribe. Linguistically and ethnographically, they are closely related to the Nuu-chah-nulth and Ditidaht peoples of the West Coast of Vancouver Island, who live across the Strait of Juan de Fuca in British Columbia, Canada. Etymology and name The Makah people refer to themselves as the ', which translates to somewhere near to "the people who live by the rocks and seagulls". Other thought translations include "the people who live on the cape by the seagulls", and "people of the point", as well as several others. This has sometimes been anglicized as Kwih-dich-chuh-ahtx''.'' The English name, "Makah," is an exonym derived from the S'Klallam language name for the Makah, ''màq̓áʔa''. It m ...
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Chilkat Weaving
Chilkat weaving is a traditional form of weaving practiced by Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and other Northwest Coast peoples of Alaska and British Columbia. Chilkat robes are worn by high-ranking tribal members on civic or ceremonial occasions, including dances. The blankets are almost always black, white, yellow and blue. Background The name derives from the Tlingit people of the Chilkat (Jilkháat) region near Klukwan, Alaska on the Chilkat River. The Nisga'a are reputed to have invented the technique, according to some Tlingit weavers, though this is not attested in Tsimshian sources. Chilkat weaving can be applied to blankets, robes, dance tunics, aprons, leggings, shirts, vests, bags, hats, and wall-hangings. Chilkat clothing features long wool fringe that sways when the wearer dances. Traditionally chiefs would wear Chilkat robes during potlatch ceremonies. Chilkat weaving is one of the most complex weaving techniques in the world. It is unique in that the artist can cre ...
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