​Tem t'Ikw: The Cold Time

The winter season was a time for winter celebrations and feasting. Locally, these celebrations included Spirit Dances and the Potlatch.

The Potlatch

The word potlatch is Chinook and means “to give." Potlatches were (are) significant ceremonial occasions that were held in the winter months when food and resources were abundant, having been gathered and preserved during the rest of the year. Potlatches were significant social, political, economic and ceremonial foundations of a community and culture. Potlatches included a feast and distribution of gifts.

Did you know?

The Federal Government of Canada outlawed the Potlatch in 1885. The Potlatch Ban was a government policy designed to force assimilation by preventing Indigenous communities from participating in the Potlatch. The Indian Act was later amended to include the Sundance and other ceremonies across Canada. The Potlatch ban remained in effect until 1951.

Recommended Reading

Secret of the Dance, by Alfred Scow and Andrea Spalding

A Kwakwaka'wakw Potlatch, by Sally Williams