The Potlatches of Northwestern Tribes

Saskatchewan was focused upon in this essay for two reasons. The first being that the author had lived in that province for the majority of time they have been in Canada and so is more familiar with the various customs and cultures that exist in the place. The second reason is that the natives have lived on this land for tens of thousands of years, hence an incredible amount of diversity exists among the cultures here . The two cultures focused upon in this essay are the Cree and the Lakota.

The Paiutes are a Native American Indian tribe “made up of several bands throughout the western part of the United States, also known as the Great Basin region” (Ruby 222). The Northern Paiutes populated areas of Oregon, California, Nevada, and Idaho; and inquiries as to how the environment might have affected their interactions, migration, and social behavior is a topic of great interest in Oregon archeology. The Northern Paiutes “who practiced the ancestral lifeway well into the 19th century, were heirs to an extremely ancient cultural tradition” (Aikens 13). Historical archeological studies found that these groups often “made tools, gathered plants, and hunted animals of similar if not identical kinds” (Aikens 13). Through these similar identities,

I picked the Chinook tribe, which is a northwestern tribe located around the columbian river, or today's Washington and Oregon. The land and climate really defined how the Chinook people lived and is why it’s defined as a folk culture. The Chinook tribe is around large forests that the tribe uses to build canoes and large houses. The Chinook tribe would build these large houses and many people could live inside, these houses were made out of red cedar a tree that was very abundant in the area. The Climate where the Chinook tribe located was very harsh but easy at times. The climate existed of very rainy seasons with very hot seasons that defined what the Chinook tribe would wear. The Chinook tribe would wear little to nothing on the hot

The American territory was sprawling across the Mississippi River and into new Native American territory. The Great Plains and far West were occupied by both Indians and Hispanics whose custom and way of live were distinct in language religion and kinship and governance. The white settlers and hunters were a threat to the resources in which they used for survival.

The northern tribes used bones and deer antlers to make knives, scrapers, awls, fishing tools, whistles, and pendants. The first tribes denpended on agriculture were those that lived on the Atlantic Costal Plain. They learned how to make pottery and cloth. The cloth was woven with thread made from soft layers of splint baskets. They made musical instruments like pipers, rattles, drums, nd they were played during ruitals and ceremonies dances. They built two types of houses, long houses, and wigwams. The first type was formed by bending poles into a cone or dome shape and by tying the poles together with vines. The frame was covered with woven mats, bark, or hide . These people grew corn, squash, beans, pumpkins, and tobacco.

The Wampanoag' is a Native American individuals in North America. They were a free alliance comprised of a few tribes. Numerous Wampanoag individuals today are selected in two governmentally perceived tribes, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, or four state-perceived tribes in Massachusetts. In the start of the seventeenth century, at the season of first contact with the English, the Wampanoag lived in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, a domain that incorporated present-day Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket islands. Their populace numbered in the thousands because of the extravagance of nature and their development of corn, beans and squash. Three thousand Wampanoag lived on Martha's Vineyard alone.

The Plains Cree Tribe lived in Canada, north and west of Lake Superior in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Women wore dresses made out of deerskins, Men wore animal skin leggings,a loincloth which is a small piece of cloth or skin worn between the legs and a belt to hold the loin cloth. They did not speak english, their language is called Montagnais. They lived in teepees.

I chose to write my research paper on the Blackfoot reservation which is home to the Blackfoot tribe. The Blackfoot tribe was sometimes known as the classic example of the Plains Indians. The Blackfoot reservation actually consists of four different tribes and those are the Blackfoot/Siksika, Blood/Kainai, Pikuni/Peigan, and North Peigan Pikuni tribes. The Blackfoot Indians initially migrated from the Great Lakes region and now live in Montana and some of Canada.

The traditional Athabascan potlatch has not change much since it was celebrated by their ancestors in the past. In this essay we will explore what the significance of the Athabascan potlatch and why it is so important to the communities where it is celebrated. We will also explore similar “gift giving” ceremonies by other indigenous people around the world.

Have you ever celebrated Christmas? Remember the feast, tree, friends, gifts, and prayers. These are all similar events or activities that occur in a potlach, the word potlach means'' gift giving ''. This tradition is derived from the Tlingit and American Indians, in fact, the potlach is a festival that is about '' giving more than taking ''. Located in the Alaskan coastal islands and Dakota, the Chilkat Tlingit's and Sioux Indians compare and contrast in characteristics such as religion, celebrations, and daily life.

Located at the center of the floor was the drum with its performers (all male), and the singers who were the male drummers and female singers. The female singers were seated just behind the male drummers in a circle. Prior to the initiation of the Powwow, many other things occurred. Miss Indian OU was crowned and everyone joined in celebration by dancing around the center drum. Male and female vocals could both be heard during this time. From here the honoring of certain individuals, families, and anniversaries occurred. It was then time for the Grand Entry. It is important to note that a prayer was carried out before this entry and all were asked to rise due to the presence of the Eagle Staff. The drums then initiated the Grand Entry and well over 100 dancers arrived on the floor. Each Plains dance type from Jingle Dress Dancers to Fancy Dancers was present. Regalia varied between each dance group and during the Grand Entry they each danced their own individual dance.

What is a potlatch? A potlatch is defined as: "a ceremonial feast of the American Indians of the northwest coast marked by the host 's lavish distribution of gifts or sometimes destruction of property to demonstrate wealth and generosity with the expectation of eventual reciprocation" (Merriam-Webster definition). A potlatch, as I learned, is: a ceremony hosted by a chief, to showcase the family’s wealth and ranking, to neighbouring tribes, but plays other important roles—such as for weddings, comings of age, naming ceremonies, et cetera. However, the government, journalists or churches viewed it as as an unexplainable religious ceremony that is a “give away party” (New Law would Ban Indian Potlatch Entirely. The Globe). In 1939,

In chapter ten, author Bruno Nettle takes the reader to the town of Browning, Montana, where he is about to witness a modern Native American ceremony. As he observes, he notices that only one-half of the people there are actual Native Americans. The rest are are white tourists and innocent observers just like himself. Eventually, somewhere around eighteen singing groups appear from different tribes and reservations. They will be summoning the dancers into what is known as the grand entry. Nettle notices that the overall style of the music remains the same among all of the different groups, or `drums.' People are able to interact by taking pictures, video and tape recording what goes on. In that

Grace I agree that intangible possession passed down were very interesting in the potlach ceremonies. What I found intresting was how they really provide gifts like money, flour, kettles, dishes, conoes and etc. to benefit everyone in the community. I feel like the potlach represented their unity and if they might of all not been blood related they were family and took care of one

In studying the potlatch, which was a gift-giving event practiced by the natives in the Pacific Northwest Coast, Mauss noted that it entailed both economical and also symbolic interests. During this celebration