Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch. Edited by Aldona Jonaitis.

[Pacific Northwest Indian Art] .

Published by University of Washington Press, 1991

About this Item

A Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. The potlatch, a festive gathering marked by the lavish distribution of gifts to guests as a sign of the host's status, is central in the tradition of the Kwakiutl of Vancouver Island and the mainland opposite. Ritualistic simulated cannibalism was a feature of some potlatches, which led to the Canadian government's outlawing of the ceremony in 1884. The Kwakiutl continued to potlatch furtively until the ban was rescinded in 1951. Dramatic masks, symbolic wall paintings, headdresses, feast dishes and blankets are among the objects reproduced, together with archival and contemporary photographs attesting to the persistence of the potlatch tradition. Essays by scholars discuss Kwakiutl ritual dance, analyze the social significance of potlatch and reveal how anthropologist Franz Boas, the museum's curator from 1895 to 1905, acquired a wealth of potlatch objects with the help of his chief informant, George Hunt, a half-English, half-Tlingit Native anthropologist who was raised in a Kwakiutl village. Seller Inventory # 28034

Bibliographic Details

Title: Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl ...

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Publication Date: 1991

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

Edition: 1st Edition