Potlatch: A Gift-Giving Feast of Indigenous Peoples

Running head: POTLATCH
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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POTLATCH
Proposal:
A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest
Coast of Canada and the United States (Gamble, 2017). It is specifically common for the peoples
of the Interior and Subarctic adjoining of northwest cost. Potlatches went through a history of a
rigorous ban by the Canadian and American federal government and therefore, hotspot of
research by many anthropologists. Since the act of potlatch was decriminalized in the past war
years, it reemerged in some communities. A potlatch was held on occasions of birth, deaths,
adoption and it is typically held in the season of winter (Gamble, 2017). The host of the event
was a numaym, a cognatic kin group usually headed by aristocrats but a commoner and
occasional slaves also included in the ceremony. Only rich people of those communities have
the authority of hosting potlatch and tribal slaves were not allowed to attend it as guest or host.
Annotated bibliography:
Gamble, L. (2017). Feasting, ritual practices, social memory, and persistent places: new
interpretations of shell mounds in southern california. American Antiquity,82(3), 427-451.
doi:10.1017/aaq.2017.5
This is a primary source of literature and it is important because it provides a concise idea of the
ritual along with an interpretation of the social relations of California.
Pauketat, T., Kelly, L., Fritz, G., Lopinot, N., Elias, S., & Hargrave, E. (2002). The
Residues of Feasting and Public Ritual at Early Cahokia. American Antiquity, 67(2), 257-
279. doi:10.2307/2694566
It is primary source of literature and it is an important source because it gives the idea of the
association between the ritual and social, political foundation in the northwest region