USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The term ‘Potlatch’ has been taken from a Nootka Indian word meaning “gift". The Nootka, are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada.

Detailed explanation-2: -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.

Detailed explanation-3: -A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States. It is their main economic system. This is a form of competitive reciprocity in which hosts demonstrate their wealth and prominence by giving away goods; they become a social weapon.

Detailed explanation-4: -One of the most famous researchers who studied the nature and importance of potlatches is the anthropologist Franz Boas.

Detailed explanation-5: -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.