The Columbus journal., 1889-03-06
A POTLATCH IN ALASKA.
CURIOUS FESTIVAL OBSERVED ~
THE THuNkETa

~&81Ao8 " - Ao~v~ SO04 NC GVOBOA
Pacific coast The word means q .'big
feast" but that does not dignity all that
the same words do to tho white races.
Blankets are tho signs Of wealth among
these people To have % many blankets
b among them to be just % rich. These
blankets are stored up and boarded Just
a. the miser hoards his gold. but for .
totally different purpose. The idea Il to
have a big '~'potlatch" some time. Often
this takes place when the owner Of the
blankets gets past middle life and feels
that the time has con when he can AZ
ford to make this social display. Again
they are laid up and treasured % that .
big ''potlatch" may be held after the
owner IL dead.
The Thlinket village just north Of and
adjoining Sitka now has about l,5OO win
ter inhabitants. those who are out fsh-
ing and working At the canneries all sum-
mel having come in to stay until work
begins again in uMnl Though they
have been brought under some civilixing
influences they are very reluctantly sur
rendering their native customa Among
those to which they still cling b the Gus
tom Of the ''potlatch."
ALASKAN PoLYoAxY.
At I O'Clock . cannon shot VA heard
I've in the village, to the assonishment
II many Of the Americans here. In
auiry disclosed the fact that one Of the
head men Of the village had just died,
and that the cannon shot from an old
Russian carronade was to announce the
death. When the whites first began to
make threads among thesenatives polyg-
amy and slavery were settled institutions
among them. Both still exist to some
extent at points Of the greatest distance
from civilixing influence. The Russian
church in Alaska has steadily pur-
sued the policy OF breaking up
polygamy among the natives ever
since its missionaries began their
work more than a century ago. Tie
headman of the Sitka village was
brought within the fold of that church,
but attempted for q long time to conceal
the fact that he was INDUCING In q plu-
rality of wives When of at distant
fishing and canning stations he could do
this with impunity. and with little or no
danger that any of his people would ex-
pose him. They will not testify against
each other II it can be helped When he
came into the ranch or village last fall
he was detected in this mode of living.
and. in a manner, cocrced into surrcn-
dering his youngest and most attractive
wife. He had been married to the first
q United States fashion," and as the
Russian church does not recognize d.
vorce he could not put her away in favor
Of the younger n
The result of this was that this stolid.
taciturn Indian. whose appearance and
general conduct would indicate that not
a particle of sentiment entered into his
character, actually pinned away and died
of grief. Nothing that his people could
do would stimulate him to any exertion.
None of the Establishments and caresses
of his first wife, and she was kind to
him, could arouse him from his stupor
Of grief. and this stout and lusty fisher
man, who had braved hundreds Of fierce
storms in his cedar canoe, died actually
of broken heart.
THE PoTLATcH.
Now comes the ''potlatch." He had
been laying up blankets against the day
Of a royal, FOSTERING ''potlatch" in his
lifetime. A score of natives visited the
traders store and bought nearly q ton
of stuff for the feast Canned goods,
boxes of crackers by the dozen, and
everything that could be obtained to eat
were hauled over by them to the village
on trucks to be consumed in the pot
LATCH" which will Last for several
days and nights. A ''potlatch" without
something strong to drink is a compare
lively tame affair. The sale Of whisky
to these people is carefully guarded
against, and when detected, which is
quite often, severely punished. They
buy large quantities Of molasses, how
ever, and from this surreptitiously distil
IN intoxicating drink called ''hooche-
noo." with which they enliven their
''potlatches."
The first night of this one has just
passed. and the bowling and dancing
which went on In the large house Of the
dead headman showed that considerable
.hoochenoo" had in some way been pro-
vided for the occasion. The house has
no chimney, and the smoke from the
fire. built in the center of the floor, e.
cages through q hole in the roof. The
walls glisten with black SCOT. The dance
has no figures, but is simply q cadenced
step in a circle around the fire, the time
being given OF a sort Of tomtom or am
BOURNE. When each dancer gets tired.
he squats down anywhere to eat and rest.
So it goes on all night long. and day In
and day out, until the supplies are all
gone and the blankets all parted with to
buy the e Of keeping up the pot
LATCH"
The duration Of the wake" depends
upon the supply Of blankets. The pot
latches" invariably end in the impover-
ishment of those who give them. A ma
tive who gives q "potlatch" and retains
any of his property afterwards Is dis
graccd. Tho widow, In this particular
case. has entered eagerly into the festivi-
ties, and yet realizes that It will take the
last blanket before it is all over
Some idea may be formed Of the way
these ~"potlatches" end when I state the
fact that the steamer broughtuptwo lndi
IN women and one ''buck" FROM village
200 miles northeast Of this, all Of whom
had their noses bit OF In . "hoochenoo
potlatch." They al got drunk and the
man bit the noses of two Of the women.
Sitka Cor. New York Times.
Clara 0egeiA
Said IN attache Of the theatre one
night a Clara Morris wa nearing tho
conclusion Of her play: ''It will Be u
O'Clock before Niss Morris leaves the
house. When tho curtain falls on this
act she win sob and scream al the way
to her dressing room, and there she will
sit for IN hour rocking hack and forth
until she gets quisted down. Then she
will put on her street costume and leave