DCHP-1 Online

potlatch ((n.)) [< Chinook Jargon < Nootka patshatl gift; a giving] Esp. Pacific Coast

• 1 n. Obs. a gift of goods or money; donation; handout. Also spelled potlach.

  • 1846  (1849)  [A present . . . Patlatch.]
  • 1860  A Tongass Indian on Sunday afternoon accosted a man named John Garretson, on Humboldt Street, with the demand; "Patlatch quarter."
  • 1883  Indians from various parts of the valley are already coming to . . . find out how much "potlatch" the various growers will pay in the way of potatoes, beef, pasturage, and "tillicum" money, beside what they earn.
  • 1884  The Indian, generally . . . steals into your presence without warning, handles whatever he sees without permission, smokes if you allow it, and seldom, especially if a middle-aged or old woman, leaves you without begging a potlatch.
  • 1935  The word potlatch is a Chinook word, and signifies 'a gift.' The real Indian word used in this connection is not potlatch but passapa, and while it means a gift, it also means a gift with an elastic string attached to it, so that it will come back with interest.

• 2a n. Hist. See 1964 quote.

  See also: donation feast  Potlatch Law  private potlatch  winter festival  

  • Although the potlatch was most highly deloped among the Kwakiutl of British Columbia, it played, in one form or another, an important part in the culture of the Indians of the Pacific Coast from Oregon to Alaska and of those in the Interior of B.C. and the Northwest. The practice was outlawed in 1884 by the Potlatch Law.

  • 1873  (1877)  His reputation mounted to an extraordinary height because of so magnificent a potlatch, and he stood a good chance of the Tyheeship. . . .
  • 1876  (1961)  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 headsmen had given away in presents to their friends 134 sacks of flour, 150 pairs of blankets, together with a quantity of supplies and provisions. . . .
  • 1880  The potlatch besides being a means of combining labour for an industrial 'bee', for purposes in which individual effort is insufficient, is also a method of acquiring influence in the tribe, and in some cases, as we have seen, of attaining even to the chieftaincy.
  • 1955  Most potlatches took place in the autumn, after the people had stored away their food and before the secret society began its winter dances.
  • 1964  A potlatch was a large gathering to which important people were invited in order to witness some event, such as a young person assuming a new name or the completion of a new house and erection of a totem pole. On such an occasion the host would display his wealth and present gifts to his guests. The more he gave away, the more prestige he acquired.

• 2b n. a modified festival and ceremony taking the form of a present-giving party after the passing of the Potlatch Law.

  See also: give-away dance  Potlatch Law  tea-dance ((n.))  

  • 1958  The exceptions include the rare contemporary potlatch of the mid-Coast, with its dances and privilege displays. . . .
  • 1964  The little Indian village of Moosehide below Dawson held its annual Potlach around Christmas time [c1910]. The Indian Chief came to Dawson with his dog teams and took Mr. Dines and his orchestra and instruments to play for their big dance of the year.
  • 1966  It is considered very rude to leave your seat at a potlatch. . . .

• 2c n. Pacific Coast the system of holding reciprocal potlatches (def. 2a, above) and thus incurring the accompanying debts and obligations of this social institution among the Coast Indians.

  See also: potlatch system  

  • 1926  The potlatch--a peculiar banking system--has been banned, and the bartering of coppers has been declared illegal.
  • 1961  An important facet of the entire system of potlatch debts and credits along with native enforcement of payment, was demolished for Mr. Duncan's newly-converted Christians: they were withdrawn from participation and accessibility.

• 2d n. (used attributively) designating articles used during the potlatch.

  • 1890  Masks must not be used in summer and during daylight, except potlatch masks.
  • 1900  "Then made I preparation for the wedding, and the people that lived even to the east came for the food of the feast and the potlatch token."
  • 1961  . . . I was impressed with the amount of talk among the coastal Indians about the land title question and about "getting back those potlatch goods," as Guy Williams expressed it. . . .
  • 1962  [Caption] The Potlatch Dish.
  • 1966  Birger and I were listening to the Indian's potlatch drum.

• 3 n. Hist. a party given by fur traders for the distributing of gifts to Indians.

  See also: regale ((n.)) (def. 3)  

  • 1891  The Hudson Bay Company . . . the better to keep the natives under subjection, gave themselves every year a kind of tobacco potlatch, in connection where with the traditional differences of rank among the receivers were scrupulously observed.
  • 1957  Potlatch was a Chinook term meaning a free feast with gifts and was generally taken by the Indians to mean the Christmas season.

• 4 n. Informal a party or celebration.

  • 1900  Then he [a white trapper] mingled with the men and maidens, and that night gave a potlatch.
  • 1924  He . . . sent for the makings of a "party," or potlatch.
  • 1936  "You know as well as I do that these people had one of their pot-latches last night. And that's something I've been trying to stop."
  • 1948  . . . the main purpose of these gatherings seemed to be the potlatch, a sort of gambling orgy. . . .
  • 1954  "Police or no police, what a potlatch that will be!"

• 5 n. a fair or carnival held on an Indian reserve and featuring canoe races, games, and dances, often held to raise funds for local causes.

  • 1958  The Princess [Margaret] attended a Potlach at Courtenay arranged by President Robert Clifton of the Native Brotherhood of British Columbia.
  • 1959  The squall and a dangerously rough ebb tide marred the international canoe races that marked the wind-up of the two-day potlatch sponsored by the Squamish tribe.
  • 1959  [Caption] Tom-toms and smoke signals are announcing the second annual Squamish Indian Potlatch, May 23 and 24.

• 6 n. Figurative uses.

  • 1963  In the international cutthroat competition between East and West, have we got to such a desperate position . . . where, in order to win at all costs we are willing to throw our children into the potlatch fire?
  • 1964  Certainly the two-party leadership potlatch was not without its shadows cast before.
  • 1964  Recently I talked to a farm couple who are happier than a sweepstake winner at a potlatch.