Kwakiutl

The Kwakiutl Indian tribe existed before the discovery of North America by the European culture and inhabited the coast of the Pacific Northwest of the United States and British Columbia in Canada. The tribe is rich in tradition and culture and has remained steadfast in their beliefs, history, teachings and artisan skills which have been passed down generation to generation. The artisans in the Kwakiutl tribe mastered the art of creating special ceremonial masks that are not only beautiful and aesthetically

characteristics in indigenous life and celebrates historical significance with stories. Reflection of the past is associated with dance in the modern era with groups that keep the traditions alive, like the one in “Dances for a New Generation”. In the Kwakiutl tribe, the Red Cedar dance shares the narrative about the cannibal man and the taming of the spirits within. Additionally, the Comanche men’s traditional dance “emanate[s] different things like stories of battles and hunting through movements” (Lucas

The Kwakiutl of The North Pacific Coast is a group that encompases many distinct and extraordinary aspects of a North American native culture. Setting The Kwakiutl mainly reside in the geographical region of the North Pacific Coast. Stretching along the coast of present day British Columbia. This area begins near the southern border of Alaska; from the Juan de Fuca Strait and extends down south to Yakutat Bay. This region is overlaid with a diverse landscape that has greatly impacted the Kwakiutl

Patterns of Culture", He describes the grieving habits of the Kwakiutl Indians that reside in the Pacific North West. When someone passes away in the tribe, the members affected by the tragedy grieve in a specific way. The tribe members take all their grievance in their hearts and convert it into anger, which leads them to lash out at anyone they please. This lashing out can go to the extreme of even killing people. It does not matter to the Kwakiutl tribe if the party chosen is guilty or not. The tribe

Born and brought up Jewish in Germany during a very antisemitic time, Franz Boas was a successful student, earning his doctorate at a fairly young age and holding an academic position in Berlin. However, in 1886 Boas found himself in New York after having participated in several ethnographic studies in Canada. He decided to remain in New York for several reasons, the main one being that it kept him close to the North American Indians and Inuit who were the peoples most fascinating to him. In 1899

and the difference between a tribe in the past to now in the present. From the start the Kwakiutls lived in villages of rectangular cedar-plank homes with bark roofs. These houses were as large as 100 feet long and held several families from the same clans up to about 50 people. Nowadays old-fashioned buildings are similar to these but are only used for ceremonial reasoning not for everyday shelter. The Kwakiutls restored to living in reservations neglecting their own traditional values. Reserves belong

Cultural relativism is a theory that explains the differences among cultures and their ethics and morals. This theory describe the moral, ethical, and societal differences that diverse cultures experience. Ethical relativism, as described by Ruth Benedict, suggests that normal behavior differs from society to society. What is viewed as morally right for one society can be viewed as morally wrong for another society (Timmons, 2012, p. 55). To support this view, Benedict cites how certain cultural

she analysed - the Pueblo (Zuni) Indians of the Southwest, the Dobu of eastern New Guinea and the Kwakiutl of the Pacific Northwest coast between Washington and British Columbia. She suggests personality to be ‘writ-large’.

Nootka verb "pa-chide" which means "to give" (Drucker 55); a potlatch was “an opulent ceremonial feast to celebrate an important event held by tribes of Northwest Indians of North America including the Tlingit, Tsimishian, Haida, Coast Salish, Nuxalk, Kwakiutl and Chinook people” (Alchin 10). The potlatch was practice by theses tribes in recognition of significant events such as the transfer of tribal titles and privileges, the cultivation of alliances, birth, death, marriage, and the recognition of social

They had no fully developed totem pole” (“Bella Coola” American History). “The Kwakiutl were artists. Even in utilitarian items, visual art was joined with rhetoric, mythology, and performance art to glorify the kin groups. Wooden objects, such as massive house posts, totem and commemorative poles (non aboriginal), masks, rattles, feast dishes, and other objects used for crest displays were carved and/or painted” (“Kwakiutl” American History). When other cultures think of Native Americans, part of