The Potlatch Tradition

Concept 1: Civilization

Chapter 15 introduces the banning of the Potlatch tradition which was a cultural practice in the Aboriginal community. Civilization is a concept that can be used to describe the ideology of the government when they were in the process of banning the Potlatch. The attempt to ban the Potlach was an act of enforcing “the preferred form way of life” (NS110) onto the aboriginal community. The government exclaimed how they believed that “coastal nations wasted valuable time attending potlatches,” as they thought that time should be spent “elsewhere in a more profitable pursuit” (Ray 222). The government was convinced that they had the answer to make the most efficient society and believed that citizens should be working hard in a profitable manner. The practice of the Potlatch tradition interfered with capitalism and was the primary problem that the government saw from these celebrations. They had a superior outlook of the situation and were blind to how it was an important aspect of the Aboriginal culture.

Concept 2: Assimilation

The banning of the Potlatch is a form of assimilation which is primary controlled by the concept of civilization.

The Euro- Canadian majority wanted to assimilate the aboriginal culture by taking away a tradition. A more intense form of assimilation was seen through Residential Schools as this system used the process of assimilation to systematically strip aboriginal peoples of their culture while forcing Euro- Canadian culture upon them. This was the “most draconian assimilation scheme [that] the government imposed” (Ray 235) on the Aboriginal community. The concept of civilization and assimilation work parallel to each other. The process of assimilation works under the concept of civilization. The overruling majority felt as though their way of life would be much preferred by the rest of society and as a result led to the Native community to be aggressively forced to practice the more preferred Euro- Canadian

ways.
Concept 3: Cultural Genocide
Residential Schools were under the concept of civilization and through aggressive assimilation resulted in Aboriginal cultural genocide. As defined in class cultural genocide is the “deliberate and systematic destruction of a political, racial, or cultural group.” Chapter 15 explores the true and harsh reality of these church- ran schools. Children were physically and sexually abused, as well as severely punished if they got caught practicing anything other than the imposed Euro-Canadian culture. Residential schools had the goal to erase the entire aboriginal culture. Young children were intentionally targeted so they could more easily force them to forget any Aboriginal cultural values and instead learn and become engaged in the “preferred” way of living
Concepts Combined:
Civilization creates the initial mindset of how society should be ran and how citizens should act. Civilization was then a concept used to assimilate people, such as banning the Potlach and attacking the Sun Dances. Harsh assimilation will likely transfer into a cultural genocide, such as seen with Residential Schools.