Who are the Kwakwaka WAKW people?

Who are the Kwakwaka WAKW people?

The Kwakwaka’wakw peoples are traditional inhabitants of the coastal areas of northeastern Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. In the 2016 census, 3,670 people self-identified as having Kwakwaka’wakw ancestry. An 1880s photograph of the Xumtaspi-Nawittl village on Hope Island, BC.

Who were the Kwakiutl people?

Kwakiutl, self-name Kwakwaka’wakw, North American Indians who traditionally lived in what is now British Columbia, Canada, along the shores of the waterways between Vancouver Island and the mainland.

What did the Kwakiutl people live in?

The Kwakiutl lived in long, narrow houses called long houses or plank houses. Up to 50 people from the same clan would live in one house. Totem poles are ceremonial statues that were carved by many of the tribes in the Pacific Northwest.

What are the meanings of the potlatch for the Kwakwaka WAKW people?

English Translation of Potlatch Means “To Give” Many people believe that a rich and powerful person is someone who has a lot. The people who speak Kwak´wala, the Kwakwaka’wakw, believe that a rich and powerful person is someone who gives the most away.

What happened to the Kwakiutl tribe?

The Kwakiutl people are indigenous (native) North Americans who live mostly along the coasts of British Columbia, which is located in the northwest corner of Canada. Today, there are about 5,500 Kwakiutls living here on the tribe’s own reserve, which is land specially designated for Native American tribes.

What language did the Kwakiutl speak?

What language do the Kwakiutl Indians speak? Almost all Kwakiutl people speak English today, but some Kwakiutls, especially elders, also speak their native Kwakiutl language, which is known as Kwak’wala. Kwakwala is a complicated language with many sounds that don’t exist in English.

What are the Kwakiutl known for?

The Kwakiutl were widely known for their totem poles, elaborate wooden houses, and seaworthy log canoes, as well as for dramatizing myths and performing magic tricks.

What is the main purpose of a potlatch?

potlatch, ceremonial distribution of property and gifts to affirm or reaffirm social status, as uniquely institutionalized by the American Indians of the Northwest Pacific coast. The potlatch reached its most elaborate development among the southern Kwakiutl from 1849 to 1925.

Why was potlatch so important?

It primarily functions to redistribute wealth, confer status and rank upon individuals, kin groups and clans, and to establish claims to names, powers and rights to hunting and fishing territories. On a ceremonial dugout canoe, made from a single cedar log, dancers wearing regalia announce a potlatch.

What was the Kwakiutl religion?

The religion of the Kwakiutl was based on a complicated system of privileges that were said to be given to certain families by supernatural powers. The Kwakiutl believed that such powers were found in all things in nature. They said daily prayers to the spirits, often asking to be granted powers.

Are potlatches still illegal?

By the time the ban was repealed in 1951, due largely to the difficulties of enforcement and changes in attitudes, traditional Indigenous identities had been damaged and social relations disrupted. However, the ban did not completely eradicate the potlatch, which still exists in various communities today.

Why was potlatch made illegal?

The government and missionaries viewed potlatch ceremonies as excessive, wasteful and barriers to assimilation. If the potlatch, the cornerstone of the culture of coastal First Nations, could be eradicated, then the government and the missionaries would be free to swoop in and fill the cultural void with Christianity.

Why are gifts burned at potlatch?

A potlatch involves giving away or destroying wealth or valuable items in order to demonstrate a leader’s wealth and power. Potlatches are also focused on the reaffirmation of family, clan, and international connections, and the human connection with the supernatural world.

What happens during a potlatch?

Historically, the potlatch functioned to redistribute wealth in what some refer to as a gift-giving ceremony. Valuable goods, such as firearms, blankets, clothing, carved cedar boxes, canoes, food and prestige items, such as slaves and coppers, were accumulated by high-ranking individuals over time, sometimes years.

Are potlatches still held?

As part of a policy of assimilation, the federal government banned the potlatch from 1884 to 1951 in an amendment to the Indian Act.

Who holds potlatches?

What food is served at a potlatch?

Salmon, dried for winter use, has been the prized and usually abundant principal food. Other dishes include berries, seaweed, and meat of mountain goats, elk, moose, bears, seals, small mammals, and halibut, all smoked or dried.

Why is potlatch banned?

As part of a policy of assimilation, the federal government banned the potlatch from 1884 to 1951 in an amendment to the Indian Act. The government and its supporters saw the ceremony as anti-Christian, reckless and wasteful of personal property.

Is potlatch legal in Canada?

Integral to the meaning of the potlatch today, especially among the Kwakwaka’wakw and other Coastal First Nations, is the Canadian governments banning of the ceremony through legal means. Potlatching was made illegal in 1885, and the prohibition was not lifted until 1951 (Cole and Chaikin 1990).

What is an Indian potlatch?

A Potlatch is an opulent ceremonial feast to celebrate an important event held by tribes of Northwest Indians of North America including the Tlingit, Tsimishian, Haida, Coast Salish and the Chinook and Dene people.