Ms. Beck paints a vivid portrait of the colorful, dramatic potlatch ceremony that is central to Pacific Northwest Coast Native culture of the Tlingit, Haida and others.

In 1884, the Canadian government enacted a ban on the potlatch, the foundational ceremony of the Haida people. The tradition, which determined social structure, transmitted cultural knowledge, and redistributed wealth, was seen as a cultural impediment to the government’s aim of assimilation. The tradition did not die, however; the knowledge of the ceremony was kept alive by the Elders through other events until the ban was lifted. In 1969, a potlatch was held. The occasion: the raising of a totem pole carved by Robert Davidson, the first the community had seen in close to 80 years. From then on, the community publicly reclaimed, from the Elders who remained to share it, the knowledge that has almost been lost. Sara Florence Davidson, Robert’s daughter, would become an educator. Over the course of her own education, she came to see how the traditions of the Haida practiced by her father—holistic, built on relationships, practical, and continuous—could be integrated into contemporary educational practices. From this realization came the roots for this book.

Variously described as an exchange of gifts, a destruction of property, a system of banking, and a struggle for prestige, the potlatch is considered one of the founding concepts of anthropology. However, the author here dismisses such a theory, arguing the concept was invented by 19th-century Canadian law for the purpose of control. 9 halftones.

Re-examination of the history of the potlatch, the law and the Indians response to the legislation. Despite being subjected to a paternalism that became increasingly authoritarian, British Columbia's Indians remained significant participants in their own cultural destiny.

The magnificent collection of art made by the Kwakiutl Indians of essays, place the ceremonial regalia in context. 101/2x10 British Columbia, assembled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the American Museum of Natural History by Franz Boas and George Hunt, lies at the heart of this catalogue conceived to accompany an exhibition which will tour the US and Canada from 1992-1994. More than 100 pieces, selected from this collection and those of other museums, are illustrated in color. Extended captions incorporating information from members of the Kwakiutl community describe their history and acquisition, and over 80 historical photographs, as well as six Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Potlatch, Idaho, was a company town--a community completely owned by a large lumber firm. This is the story of the Pacific Northwest in microcosm: the exploitation of natural resources; the impact of big business on the development of a rutal area; of ordinary people making a place their home.