"NAKWA'A": POTLATCH TRADITION

An excellent resource on the potlatch tradition is Potlatch: The Southern Tutchone Way by Mary Easterson, published by Kluane First Nations in 1992. There is also an accompanying video produced by Cracker Creek Productions in 1994. The following information is based on these two resources. The potlatch is one of the most enduring traditions of the Southern Tutchone. The word potlatch ("nakwa'a") means "to give" and "a big party." It was practiced in Kwa'day ("long-ago") times and continues to be celebrated today. As Mary Easterson explains, for the Southern Tutchone, "the important social unit is the inter-marrying matrilineal Crow and Wolf moieties in whose terms ownership and property is expressed" (p.3), and it is the relationship between these two clans that is the basis of the potlatch tradition. As we have discussed in class, "ownership" is not necessarily restricted to physical objects or property, but can also include songs, names, dances, and stories. All of these figure prominently in the potlatch.

Elder Marge Jackson speaking at Champagne Potlatch (Photo courtesy of St. Elias Community School)

In Kwa'day times potlatches were held for a variety of occasions, including births, naming, puberty, marriage, death or other special feasting times. Today the potlatch is primarily held to mark the death of a clan member, first with a burial potlatch, and about one year later, with a memorial or headstone potlatch, which marks the end of the mourning period. Easterson points out that, although there have been changes, the potlatch continues to play a central role in establishing social responsibilities and strengthening ties between the clans. She says that "rites of passage have important psychological consequences, since it marks the assumption of a set of new relationships with other members of society."(p.5)

In earlier times gifts given at the potlatch included native copper, hides, meats and furs. Gifts gradually changed with contact to include blankets, calico and other trade items, and now include contemporary items and money. Still, the baisic reason for gift-givign remains the same: they are "given to the opposite clan for witnessing the event and validating the passing of the recently deceased."(p.2) In the past, Southern Tutchone cremated their dead, but under the influence of missionaries, began to bury the dead and to build "spirit houses" (which originally housed the ashes of the dead person) around the graves.(p.10-11) As burial became the norm, the role of the opposite clan was to take on responsibility for all the details of the burial and to provide food for the potlatch. Traditionally people used "talking sticks" and "dancing sticks" at potlatches, while today these are replaced by dancing with handkerchiefs. According to Easterson, all of these symbolized the strong connections of the people to their ancestors and to their land.

Easterson stresses that the potlatch was important for maintaining culture in an oral tradition. For example, "the songs sung at these potlatches not only acknowledge the link to their ancestors but also provide a verbal record of the event. They help reaffirm their history and their land ownership, for in the songs themselves are the stories of the land occupied and traditionally used."(p.23) Elders in the video accompanying Easterson's book talk about the importance of young people being present at potlatches to watch, listen and remember in order to be able to continue the traditions once the elders are gone.

Students at Champagne Potlatch (photo courtesy of St. Elias Community School)

The continued significance of the potlatch was illustrated recently in our area when a large potlatch was held to honour the memory of a well-known community member. Two children in Leisa's class received clan names at this event, and several young people in the local DAKWAKADA DANCERS group danced at the potlatch, some dressed in traditional "button blankets" reflecting the long-standing Tlingit influence in Southern Tutchone culture. In the words of Daniel Tlen, who narrates the video, "potlatching today continues to confirm a person's identity with their own social and spiritual world."

Comment On This Page

This Page was last update: Monday, December 16, 2002 at 11:34:16 AM
This page was originally posted: 10/16/2002; 4:41:17 PM.
Copyright 2010 Anthropology 220
Haines Junction Site

This site is using the Adult Contemporary (Red) theme.

Membership

Login