Potlatch - Sierra Armstrong

Potlatches are social occasions where friends, families, and everybody get along to feast and have a good time. We hold potlatches for special and significant occasions. Potlatches are held to show how much better a tribe or family is than another. They invite the others so that they can show off for them. I think in my society and family our "potlatches" are Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter holidays. Each holiday is spent at someone else's house. Each year they try and make the food and decorations better than the others. They also like to give out the best treats and gifts too. My great-aunt Fefe, who has Easter and my great-grandmother Thelma, who has Christmas have it easy because most families give out gifts for Easter and Christmas. My cousin Stephanie who has Thanksgiving tries to outdo everybodies food because that's all she really can do. All of our birthdays are pretty much ok because we are pretty spread out among age. So the kids dont really try to outdo the other kids birthdays until the get a little older.

LA-- I didn't really think about Sweet 16's until you mentioned it in your post even though I thought about birthdays. It is true because of the show called "My Super Sweet Sixteen" They are all competing and showing off how much they spent and how extravagent their gifts were.

Abbey Dahl-- I like how you mentiones weddings because they really are a competition for everyone. Every bride wants to have the most romantic and beautiful wedding.

Becca Libby - Potlatches

It's interesting to consider the history of potlatches and trying to think of an example in our own society. Historically, a potlatch was a gift giving celebration held by a tribe to celebrate with singing and dancing and exchange of goods. I think it would be nice if we had more celebrations like this in our society, however we don't exactly have "tribes" the way most people who held these celebrations did. The first thing that comes to mind for me, as many people mentioned is Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's the closest thing I can think of to a potlatch. Traditionally in the US these celebrations are meant mainly for just the family (unlike the traditional potlatch), but we still celebrate with our friends and sometimes families of friends. No doubt all cultures love to get together and eat and drink and socialize with one another, this is pretty universal, but gift giving is one thing that makes a potlatch special. I think people always feel good about gift giving, which is why we have so many celebrations that do so. In a tribal potlatch many of the gifts were food, spices, baskets, blankets and other universally useful things. Our own gift giving is not always as helpful. You know when grandma sends you something you will absolutely never touch or use in your life? I think this is also a major difference in our version of a potlatch and the old school version. It was so important to give a gift that would be helpful the the recipient, it may even be thought of as disrespectful to give something that would be useless to them.

Christmas Potlatches

Reading the article about potlatches, the first major holiday that came to my mind was a Christmas party! When we host such a celebration at my house, every family we invite courteously brings a plate or dish to share. This is a sign of thanks for the invitation, a symbol of friendship, and a commemoration of the event itself. Because we know other big families like ours, there’s always more food served than we all can eat! The ancient tradition of giving and receiving in a potlatch is also carried out during a Christmas party. It’s not only polite for the host to generously feed his/her guests, but it really captivates the spirit of the holiday by giving away some small gift as a Christmas present. Likewise, the guests should not only bring their food contribution, but also a few Christmas presents as well.

Potlatches

A potlatch is a big meal that the Native Americans have in the northwest. It is a dinner that everyone is invited to as they celebrate dancing, eating, gift giving, and singing. It expresses the generosity of their tribe. This would be much similar to Thanksgiving in my family. Everyone from both sides of my family come over to my house for a big meal and to watch the annual football game on Thanksgiving. Each family member bring over their best dish and we all have a big feast while enjoying each others company. It is similar to a potlatch because it is a large gathering of many people that invokes eating and socializing with one another.

Celebrating Potlatches, Sam Stangl

A potlatch is a feast that, in the times of modern man, lasted for days and days, but now only lasts maybe 1 or 2 days. For this feast, the members of a society trade food competitively to create what today would be known as a party.
There are many examples of feasts and parties that are similar to these potlatches that exist in American culture today. One of these is Thanksgiving: a huge supper than can include families as well as friends or even others from the community. In a sense, this supper lasts for at least 2 days supposing that there are many leftovers to continue eating for a while. Also, Thanksgiving shows relation to a potlatch because when you participate in Thanksgiving Dinner in another person's home, even if they are your family, it is typical to bring a dish such as a casserole or potato salad, as if to say, "Thank you for inviting me, I am willing to give back for the food I recieve."
The saying that envelopes this concept would probably be "pay it forward." In the story we read, "Too many bananas, not enough pineapple, and no watermelon at all," the author describes his problems with having way too many bananas. Finally, one day when he had to refuse a woman's offer of bananas, a man gave him insight to the fact that he was able to accept the bananas and, in turn, trade them to someone else for something he actually needed. This is kind of like paying it forward because he is accepting a gift that may not cost him much, if anything at all, and helping someone that needs that gift obtain it. In the end, it will most likely always be a win-win situation as he will be returned a gift of "higher value" (higher value meaning something of necessity).

Potlatches- Alexis Griffith

Potlatches are gatherings that serve as markers for significant events, such as birthdays, marriages, and comings of age. They serve as a way for hosts to display their social status and wealth by showering their guests with gifts and (for the more important guests) money.

Today we celebrate different forms of potlatches- christmas, thanksgiving, Easter, Bar Mitzvah's, weddings, and anniversaries. Though gifts are not always extravagant, usually there are some form of party favors provided to the guests as thanks for attending. Feasting is almost always associated with such events, and like in the traditional potlatch, food choice is often dominated by what is in season and how plentiful the supply is. We even participate in some of the competitive aspects of potlatching- at Christmas children race to find the hidden pickle on the tree, wherein whoever finds it receives a reward that the others do not. At Easter we hunt for eggs and at birthday parties we play games such as pin the tail on the donkey.

There are many aspects of potlatches that have manifested themselves into our social gatherings- and they make for a greate party!

potlatches

A potlatch is a feast amoung Native Americans in the northwest. They invite other groups and share in singing, dancing, eating, and usually gift giving. It is a way to show thier generosity. In my familiy we have a pitch-in for Christmas. I have a large family and we all bring a dish to the party. We also bring gifts for everyone. We enjoy each others company, eat, and give presents to one another. Depending on how much we "party" we may also sing and dance. It is our way to give thanks for one another and get to see our family. Our pitch-in is similar to a potlatch because we all share what we are given by bringing food and gifts.

Foragers

Homo sapiens have been around for at least 160,000 years and possibly for 200,000 years. Yet, humans have lived in sedentary, agriculture-based societies for only about 10,000 years. Why did our early ancestors live as foragers for so long? And, why do modern day foragers cling to their lifestyle even though they have been driven to the most marginal areas? What drives people to adopt agriculture? These questions are of great interest to anthropologists.

Also, we have very limited information about prehistoric humans because there are no written records. All we have are material remains. (If you are interested in how anthropologists study materials remains, I also offer an archeology course during the summer, ANT240) We know little about how they lived. Studying modern day foragers can tell us a great deal about how our ancestors lived.

Archaeologists often use "ethnographic analogy" to help explain the lives of people whom they are studying through their artifacts. Ethnographic analogy is using historically related peoples cultural practices to explain the practices of prehistoric peoples. For example, studying the Kalahari Bushmen can tell us a lot about how early humans in Africa lived. We have documentation on how the Bushmen live and we can apply that to the lives of people who lived in similar circumstances in the region thousands of years ago.

If you have ever been to Town Creek Indian Mound you see the ethnographic analogy being used to explain how the people of Town Creek lived. Archaeologists have created what they think the community looked like and have provided explanations of how they lived based on the artifacts found and documentation of the lives and practices of similar groups of Indians. There is no documentation of the lives of the people who lived at Town Creek. We have only the artifacts. Yet, when you visit Town Creek you see displays that address kinship and ritual practices. Where did that information come from? It couldn't have come solely from the artifacts. Archaeologists used documentation of similar groups that lived in the region later and have applied that information to the artifacts found, that are similar to artifacts of later groups. This is ethnographic analogy.  Studying modern days foragers provide insights into how our ancestors may have lived.

Potlatch-Abbey Dahl

Prior to this current time period potlatches were very different from contemporary potlatches. They were typically, "social occasions given by a host to establish or uphold," their status in society. A potlatch marked a significant period in one's lifetime. These gatherings lasted for many days and the amount of people that attended was decided on how wealthy the host was. This is where the competition came into play. People have gone bankrupt because of these parties. Everyone sometimes tries to out due the other potlatches. Some potlatches would be smaller, and others would invite almost the entire tribe or town. As seen in the video the host was giving out an ample amount of gifts to those who came to his potlatch. There were blankets, money, and other precious gifts being handed out. The guests shared food and had a wonderful time together.

In this day and age an example of a potlatch would be a wedding reception. After the ceremony (which marks a significant point for the couple), normally there is a party/reception afterwards. These can either be intimate with just family and a few friends, or extravagant with hundreds of people. They gather at a nice facility to give their congratulations to the new couple, eat, and dance. Families drop thousands of dollars on these functions that last maybe 5 hours, just to show that they have to money to do so. They maybe have an open bar, gourmet food, a huge cake, or gift baskets for their guests. It all depends on the budget, but people do generally try to impress those who come to these receptions.

Potlatch - Stephanie Reynolds

First of all, a potlatch is a type of social gathering in which resources, especially food, is redistributed among the group. The unique characteristic of a potlatch though is that it is a form of competitive feasting, in which a powerful leader of the group shows off his wealth and prestige to other rival leaders. Basically, the more guests and food brought to the potlatch means the more power or influence the group leader has. Rivals had to host an even bigger or more elaborate potlatch in order to seem more powerful than other chiefs. Goods didn't always have to be consumed though, even their destruction meant the chief was powerful; the more that could be wasted meant the society had greater resources overall. Every potlatch society has a single, central point where the resources are brought in, and where the resources can be spread among the group as well.

Although this practice is seen among the Northwest Coast Native Americans, we can see various similarities of the potlatch in modern American society as well. For one, social gatherings, such as holiday feasts along with elaborate weddings and coming-of-age ceremonies are examples of modern potlatches. Holiday feasts though, especially Christmas and Thanksgiving, are the best examples because they are social gatherings where much food and resources are redistributed. In most families, a large meal is prepared for the guests and other family members (food redistribution). The guests tend to bring their own dish for the host as well, which helps increase the resources. Like a potlatch, the more guests means more food being available, which can be wasted; showing off the wealth and prestige of the host. Wealthier families are able to throw more elaborate Christmas parties, including putting up festive decorations and providing expensive cusine.

The potlatch feast is a highly regarded tradition within the Kwakiutl and Tlingit Pacific Northwest tribes, and you can see its similiarities in modern American families. Although Americans may not be conscious of the competition going on between different groups. especially at a Christmas feast, it's still there. The potlatch is not all about competition and power though, it's still a social gathering for the tribe. Christmas dinner is a special time where family members and friends can get together and celebrate religious values. The redistribution of food and resources among the potlatch tribes benefit its members, just like it would during a holiday feast for an American family.

Potlatch

Economic Systems

For this week (9/19 - 9/21), read Chapter 6 (Economics) in your text and the following articles:
Gifting and Feasting in the Northwest Coast Potlatch
Too Many Bananas,  Not Enough Pineapples, and No Watermelon at All

Discussion Assignment
There are examples of feasts like potlatches in modern American society. Discuss at least one example of such a celebration and explain its similarities to the potlatch. What are the characteristics of a potlatch, and how are those manifested in the American celebration you are discussing?

Respond to at least 2 coursemates

Quiz for Chapter 6 will be posted Thursday.  It should be completed by Sunday, September 23.

Foraging, Dawn Depouli

According to our text, foraging “sets limits on population growth and density and…on the complexity of social organizations in these societies.” Anthropologists are often interested in how societies and particular cultures are organized socially. By studying past and current foraging cultures, we can gain greater perspective on social hierarchies, how people contribute to their communities, and learn more about humans before they began to practice agriculture and animal domestication, which began about 10,000 years ago.

For example, the Inuit of the Artic use foraging, which affects their culture and social organization. Our text states that they focus on cooperating and helping each other, religion plays a large part in their spiritual survival in the winters, and they have a “flexible kinship organization.” The Inuit use technology to assist with them with their foraging lifestyle, in the form of transportation, fishing aids, and shelter.

We can learn from studying foraging by remembering to be a part of our environment, and have a positive effect on it. Richard Nelson, an ethnographer in Alaska, believes that traditional societies, like the Koyukon Indians and Inupiaq Eskimos, can teach us about “responsible membership in the community of life.” In “Understanding Eskimo Science,” he discovers the plethora of environmental knowledge the people have and their “naturalistic observations.” He admires the way these societies have “sustain(ed) membership in a natural community … without profoundly degrading it.”

Studying foraging societies and cultures can also have scientific implications. Nelson’s article reveals the vast scientific knowledge the Eskimos have about the animals in their environment. The next example shows how we can learn about the science of our own bodies. Patricia Gadsby, author of “The Inuit Paradox,” uses anthropological studies of the Inuit foraging culture to learn fascinating new ideas about human nutrition. This article was a particular favorite for me because I am a chef totally interested in nutrition science. By studying the diet of the Inuit, research shows that humans need essential nutrients not necessarily essential foods. It teaches us a new way to look at the human diet and where we get nutrients. For example, most of us drink some orange juice for vitamin C, but the Inuit can get this nutrient from meat, if not overcooked. In Gadsby’s article, Cochran states that “’How we get our food is intrinsic to our culture.’” For the Inuit, foraging is physical, social, and spiritual.