The People of the Northwest Coast: Geography: The people of the Northwest Coast lived in a narrow section of coastal land stretching from Washington State to Northern British Columbia, and into Alaska. Temperatures in these areas were moderate, which gained the Northwest Coast peoples a lot of advantages. The environment of the Northwest Coast of Canada was very diverse, and often extreme. It included: Rugged coastline (Pacific Ocean), wide and narrow beaches, deep fjords, mountains (near coast)
A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States, such as the Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Tsimshain, Coast Salish, and Kwakiutl (New World Encyclopedia 2008.). Even though there are variant names between each of the practicing tribes, the ceremony is uniformly practiced. In comparison to others, the practice of potlatch is a highly regarded tradition within the Kwakiutl and Tlingit Pacific Northwest tribes (Rosman, 1972.)
The Potlatch Ceremony For my final paper I will be discussing The Potlatch Ceremony. In this essay I will talk about what exactly The Potlatch Ceremony is, its meaning and purpose of the ritual, how long it lasts, and when it is held. The Potlatch Ceremony has relation to the physical environment resembled by costumes and dances. I will also be talking about the differences between The Potlatch Ceremony today and the ceremony that was held in the late 1800’s. I will also be examining the ban that
Narrator 1: There once was a magical bird named Raven who lived in the Pacific Northwest. Raven was a shape shifter. This meant that she could change herself into anyone and then back to herself just by pulling her beak over her head. Narrator 2: Raven could fool other animals into believing that she was, well, just about anybody. She was such a great shape shifter that nobody was ever able to tell that it was in fact really her pretending to be someone else. Narrator 3: Raven had considerable charm
The Chilkat Blanket is a North American (NorthWest Coast) textile that originally derives from the Tsimshian people, but spread and evolved with the Tlingit people through trade and marriage. The start of the Chilkat Blanket can be linked directly to Tlingit mythology. According to the UN- Textbook of Mythology and Folklore, it is a love story that begins with a chief’s daughter who goes on a journey with her tribe in search of wild celery for early spring. As she ventures she suddenly hears
For the Kwakiutl People of the northern part of Vancouver Island, Canada, and the adjacent mainland, recorded history starts approximately in the year of 1792 when Capitan George Vancouver first made contact. As with many first encounters with Europeans, disease developed and drastically reduced the population of the Kwakiutl by an estimated 75% from the time of 1830 to 1880. In 1990, the Kwakiutl was around 1500 and pre-contact estimates are in the range of ten times that (Native Languages of the
In the era of globalization, it has been more convenient for people to access to foreign culture and develop a better understanding towards its values and attitudes. Yet, being able to put away all preconceived ideas when exploring an unfamiliar culture is extremely critical. In this context, cultural relativism would be a useful anthropological approach to be adopted when one is trying to interpret a foreign culture. It is an aesthetics advocate that all cultures are of equal value that no single
Summary Statement – Indian Act The Indian Act was an attempt by the Canadian government to assimilate the aboriginals into the Canadian society through means such as Enfranchisement, the creation of elective band councils, the banning of aboriginals seeking legal help, and through the process of providing the Superintendent General of the Indian Affairs extreme control over the aboriginals, such as allowing the Superintendent to decide who receives certain benefits, during the earlier stages of
References Haviland, W. A., Prins, H. E. L., Walrath, D., & McBride, B. (2015). The essence of anthropology. Boston (Mass.: Cengage Learning. Monroe, C. (2015). Subsistence systems [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from ANGEL https://lms.wsu.edu/ 2. A Potlatch is an event where a chief of a village gives gifts away like food and many other items (Monroe, 2015- politics, power, exchange). The reason for this event is to benefit the chief, clans, and the
like buildings, rivers, totem poles, berry patches, canoes, and works of art. The wealthiest Tlingit had slaves before 1867. Wealth of a person or family was calculated by the number of slaves held. They would take slaves from all over. During potlatch the tribe would set a slave free, and use them for sacrifice so that the ancestors would have slaves in the afterlife. In 1867 the land was bought from the Russians by the United States which is what forced the Tlingit to abolish
the Crown, legal challenges in defense of Aboriginal resource rights and land, and careful enforcing of the Indian Act’s regulations. The federal government often responded with harsh legislative measures to the Indian Act, such as outlawing the Potlatch (and subsequently, arresting those who publically continued to engage in cultural practices), and disallowing of hiring lawyers to pursue Aboriginal rights through court. The passage of such laws, however, did not stop Indigenous groups, and they
For this research paper, I have chose to focus on the Northwest Coast Native American culture and the ceremonial raven rattle. First, it is important to examine the belief system of the Northwest Coast inhabitants and the raven which serves as a central figure in their mythologies. The story of the raven states that the sun was brought to mankind by raven through transforming himself into a boy (through the impregnation of the sun keeper's daughter) in order to enchant his Grandfather into giving
Canada today is referred to as a cultural mosaic because it ensures the ethnic backgrounds of all its people are secure and welcome. Canada’s culture itself is one that celebrates and embraces other cultures without condemning or discriminating against other peoples’ ethnicity because in Canada multiculturalism and equality of everybody is very important. But has it always been like this from the start? Unfortunately it was not. In times of Canada’s past, diversity was not something that was celebrated
“The office: Not so secret Santa” is a modern day situation exemplifying Marcel Mauss’ theories on the rituals of gift giving in his book “ The Gift”. Marcel Mauss’ refers to the ritual as potlatch that binds the recipient and the giver in a continuous bond of commitment, which both, the recipient and the donor cannot escape. Through the analysis of the clip and the book ‘The Gift’ I have established that a gift plays four important roles, of a present; of poison; as a special ability and of a bond
Masks For hundreds of years masks have played an important role in the lives of the Native Americans of the Northwest Coast. They signify ancient traditions dating from antiquity to present day. The dramatic, colorful masks of the Northwest Coast are some of the most fascinating artifacts produced by Native Americans. Mask Making Although the different tribes throughout the Northwest Coast have different traditions and cultures, there are many techniques and styles which are common to
An Analysis of George Bataille's The Story of the Eye ...awareness of the impossibility opens consciousness to all that is possible for it to think. In this gathering place, where violence is rife, at the boundary of that which escapes cohesion, he who reflects within cohesion realizes that there is no longer any room for him (Theory of Religion 10). When Georges Bataille first published The Story of the Eye in 1928, anonymously and "in a limited edition of 134 copies" (Lechte 118), he had
How did the implementation and delivery of the Indian Act and its subsequent amendments (until 1951) result in the Hawthorne report claim that Indigenous people were ‘citizens minus'. Until the 16th century, Aboriginal people were the only inhabitants of what is now Canada, hence, they were an independent and self-governing people till the Europeans had the capacity to dominate Canada's original inhabitants and possessors (Elias 1). The European Invasion brought about The 1876 Indian Act, which was
Northwest Coast Tribal Masks This paper describes the Sea Bear Transformation Mask, created by Don Svanvik in 2000, and how it reflects Northwest Coast Indian art and culture, specific to the Kwakiutl tribe. A transformation mask is a large mask with hinged shutters that, when open, reveal another mask. Audrey and Alan Bleviss gave this mask to the Montclair Art Museum in 2005. The medium consists of red cedar, cedar bark, copper, pigment, and string. In the Montclair Art Museum, the mask is displayed
What Yuxweluptun meant by “Its not a pretty picture” the history of the First Nations people the impact of historical traumas: colonialism, racism, genocide, government laws and other issues: environmental [clear cutting, global warming, water pollution and oil industry] facing the First Nations. (L. P. Yuxweluptun Introductory Video) Throughout his career Yuxweluptun has painted the reality of the discourse of the First Nations People within the dominant culture (Watson 881). By using art as a way
“adjustment” of First Nations people who fought at Oka with the “bombing of the last Canadian reserve” (Robinson 211). Through “carrying the burden of peace” the Officers are given the power to destroy any semblance of Indigenous tradition, such as the potlatch, and to violently corral all First Nations people to sectioned off “Urban Reserves”. By disrupting popular Canadian perception of law enforcement Robinson succeeds in creating a dystopian image of corrupted power that allows readers to sympathize