The dispatch-news. [volume] (Lexington, S.C.) 1919-2001, 1922-08-02
END OLD CUSTOM
Canadian Authorities Forbid
Further 2otlatches.
indians Of the Pacific Coast Resort to
Courts in Effort to Retain
Ancient Rights.

One Of the most unusual legal but
ties in Canadian history has just been
staged on the Pacific coast Of British
Columbia, where some forty Of the
Kwakiutl tribe have been convicted Of
holding "potlut:.h." and some Of them
sentenced to two months imprison-
ment. Among those convicted was n.
squaw. the first in the history of Brit
ish Columbia.
The p0tlatch is one of the outstand-
ing events of life among the Indians
Of the Pacific coast. according to
Francis Dickie in Popular Mechanics
Magazine. hut very little has been
written of it. and this mostly without
understanding of the deep socinl sig
nitic.nce of the feast. dancing, cere-
monies and gift-Giving which are a
part of the event called potlatch.
The governments placing restrain
ing laws against the holding OF pot
lHtcheS was on the ground that In
tiianS on these occasions impOverisheh
themselves by giving away all their
earthly puSseSsiOnS often the savings
of years: for when an Indian gave
potlatch. he did give away everything
he owned to members Of his tribe
whom he had invited. In some eases.
where very great chief gave n pot
latch. people Of other tribes. often hun
dredS Of miles away. were invited. In
the years before the white man came
such feasts lasted from ten days to a
m0nth
But though the government was
partly right in its claim, the potlatch
presents n paradnNiral situation, for
In giving away all he possessed an
Indian wnS at the same time acquiring
vested intereSt-the potlatch was
nothing less thnn life-insurance pre-
MUM. old-nge pension and endowment
fund all rolled into one In fact. the
Indians had in operation mutual
benefit system long before the white
man.
After the coming OF the white man,
the potlatches changed considerably.
instead Of furs. the Indians began
giving blankets. flour. guns and ammu-
milton bought from the Hudson's Bay
company. AS time went on they took
full advantage Of the wonders Of the
white man, so in recent years pot
latches have presented one Of the most
lncongruous sights perhaps the world
has ever seen. There came into e1-
istence sewing-machine and furniture
and gramophone potlntches; potlatches
of cooking utensils and clothing; boots
and clothes; frequently furs and some
other articles. But the chief pot
latches in recent times have been
gramophone. furniture and utensils
The writer has been fortunate In OBJ
taining the most recent photos of what
may he perhaps the last potlatches
ever held. These photos also show the
march of the wild men to the great
ceremonial hall.
should the p"tlatches he stopped
forever 1t is hard to foretell what will
he the effect on the Indians. 1t IS n
fact thnt quite aside from the vested
interest acquired by giving a potlatch.
the giving of such gave the giver i'm
menSe prestige. 1t was the highest
peak of social ambition for n coast In
dlnn. strlven for nS eagerly rs a nou-
feau richie trying to break into New
1orks -four hundred" Looked Mt
from this point of view, the taking
away or 1t may rob the Indians of in
tiatlve and ambition to earn money to
hold one-anothcr paradox in view of
the government passing n prohibitive
III" because the potlatch impoverished
the giver