potlatch
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpɒtlætʃ/
ipa: /ˈpɑtˌlæt͡ʃ/
Forms: form: potlatches
form: potlach
form: potlache
Etymology: The noun is borrowed from Chinook Jargon potlatch, pátlač (“to give; gift; gift-giving ceremony, potlatch”), from Nootka Jargon pa'chatle, pa'chēētle, pah-chilt (“to give, give me”), from Nootka p̕ačiƛ (“to give a gift during a potlatch ceremony”).
Sense 1 of the verb (“to give; especially, to give a gift during a potlatch ceremony”) is borrowed from Chinook Jargon potlatch, pátlač (see above); sense 2 (“to carry out or take part in a potlatch ceremony”) is derived from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: First, the Indian himself is to be sought out; then the horse is to be tried; next the price is to be discussed, then the mode of payment, and finally the potlatch: each and all are matters of grave consideration and delay, during which the Indians make a business of watching every circumstance of which they can take advantage. No one can be sure of closing his bargain, until the terms are duly arranged, the potlatch given, and the horse delivered.
ref: 1844, Charles Wilkes, “Puget Sound and Okonagan”, in Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition during the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842. […], volume IV, Philadelphia, Pa.: […] C. Sherman, →OCLC, page 445:
text: The end of all this scraping and hoarding is to give away the property again at some potlatch, at which in a few hours the labour of years will be dissipated. The feasts are often given by the chief men of small tribes as a sort of peace-offering to more powerful ones; but most frequently they are looked upon in the light of gratifying the vanity of the giver and of adding to his personal consequence. [...] The chiefs are under the necessity of frequently giving these potlatches in order to preserve their popularity, just as the old knights used to scatter largess to their followers; [...]
ref: 1873, Robert Brown, “The North-western American Indians”, in The Races of Mankind: […], volume I, London; Paris: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, →OCLC, pages 75–76:
text: I questioned the Chief respecting a "Potlache" which he had held at his place during the previous winter, and ascertained that himself and two of his Headmen had given away in presents to their friends 134 sacks of flour, 140 pairs of blankets, together with a quantity of apples and provisions, amounting in value to about $700, for all of which they had paid in cash out of their earnings as laborers, fishermen, and hunters.
ref: 1876 October 15, James Lenihan, “British Columbia Superintendencies. [No. 29. Report on Indian Affairs in Fraser Superintendency, British Columbia.]”, in Annual Report of the Department of the Interior for the Year Ended 30th June, 1876. […], Ottawa: […] Maclean, Roger & Co., […], published 1877, →OCLC, part I (Indian Branch), page 38:
text: Nusk’Elu′sta, the Indian, to whom I owe my information regarding the clans, and who is a member of the gens Ialô′stimōt of the Taliô′mx·, stated that he had received the raven [carving] when he gave his first potlatch. At his second potlatch he received the eagle. He hoped that his mother would give him the whale at his next potlatch, and would at the same time divulge to him the secrets connected with it. [...] Property is also destroyed at potlatches. This is not returned, and serves only to enhance the social position of the individual who performed this act.
ref: 1897, Franz Boas, “The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians, […]”, in Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, […] Report of the U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, chapter XIII (The Religious Ceremonials of Other Tribes of the North Pacific Coast), pages 647–648:
text: That night there was a grand wedding and a potlach; so that for two days to follow there was no fishing done by the village.
ref: 1900 April 7, Jack London, “The Wife of a King”, in The Son of the Wolf: Tales of the Far North, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 162:
text: No potlatch or secret society initiation could be given by a tribal member until the chief had officially opened the winter ceremonial season. His affairs took priority over those sponsored by lineage heads, who must provide him with wealth befor they were able to accumulate for their own potlatches.
ref: [1951], Viola E[dmundson] Garfield, “Part 1: The Tsimshian and Their Neighbors”, in Viola E. Garfield, Paul S. Wingert, Marius Barbeau, edited by Marian W. Smith, The Tsimshian: Their Arts and Music (Publications of the American Ethnological Society; XVIII), New York, N.Y.: J. J. Augustin, →OCLC, chapter III (Political Organization), page 37:
text: Anyway, I lie here and imagine grandfather celebrating a heavenly potlache – (heaven is the only place he'll ever celebrate it, for it's long since been forbidden by the government here on earth) – and the great Christian gates are opening for him now, and behind him the charred remains of his pipe and his blue denims bear witness to the last potlache of all.
ref: 1971, Gwendolyn MacEwen, “House of the Whale”, in David Helwig, Tom Marshall, editors, Fourteen Stories High, Ottawa, Ont.: Oberon Press, →ISBN, pages 26–27; republished in Meaghan Strimas, editor, The Selected Gwendolyn MacEwen (Exile Classics; no. 7), Holstein, Ont.: Exile Editions, 2007, →ISBN, page 142:
text: Corporations will now have to justify all their internal pricing decisions up front. This will be a potlatche^([sic]) for economic consultants. But it will be a huge burden for honest business taxpayers, and it won't bring us much closer to a solution.
ref: 1993 March 25, Byron L[eslie] Dorgan, “Opening Statement of Senator Dorgan”, in The Breakdown of IRS Tax Enforcement Regarding Multinational Corporations: Revenue Losses, Excessive Litigation, and Unfair Burdens for U.S. Producers: Hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, First Session […] (S. Hrg. 103-102), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 2:
text: One part bacchanal, one part tribal potlatch, one part vestigial New England supper, the entire affair hinged on the coronation of the Strawberry Princess—always a virginal Japanese maiden dressed in satin and dusted carefully across the face with rice powder—in an oddly solemn ceremony before the Island County Courthouse at sundown of the inaugural evening.
ref: 1994 September 12, David Guterson, chapter 7, in Snow Falling on Cedars, [Boston, Mass.]: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, published 2012, →ISBN:
text: This was the delusion of Reaganomics, the supply-siders' inability to distinguish between spending and prosperity with the result that we simply waged economic warfare on ourselves in a potlatch of mutually assured bankruptcy.
ref: 1995, Michael Sorkin, “War is Swell”, in Donald Albrecht, editor, World War II and the American Dream: How Wartime Building Changed a Nation, Washington, D.C.: National Building Museum, →ISBN, page 251:
text: Traditionally, potlatches were given in honor of marriages, births, and deaths. [...] People who had been shamed in public could throw a potlatch to regain good standing in the community.
ref: 2014, Kate Mikoley, “The Potlatch”, in Therese Shea, editor, Native American Ceremonies and Celebrations: From Potlatches to Powwows (Native American Cultures), New York, N.Y.: Gareth Stevens Publishing, →ISBN, page 14:
glosses: A ceremony amongst certain indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest in which gifts are bestowed upon guests and personal property is destroyed in a show of generosity and wealth.
examples: text: If all went according to plan, the bands could harvest tons of meat, fat and animal skins in a single afternoon of collective effort, and either consume these riches in a giant potlatch, or dry, smoke or (in Arctic areas) freeze them for later usage.
ref: 2014, Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, London: Vintage Books, →ISBN:
synonyms: word: fuddle
qualifier: chiefly Alaska
glosses: A communal meal to which guests bring dishes to share; a potluck.
Derived terms: potlaching
potlatcher