Potlatch

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Often cited example of the tribal Gift Economy


Definition

From the Wikipedia:

"The potlatch is a festival or ceremony practiced among Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. At these gatherings a family or hereditary leader hosts guests in their family's house and hold a feast for their guests. The main purpose of the potlatch is the re-distribution and reciprocity of wealth." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potlatch)


Description

"The potlatch is a festival or ceremony practiced among Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. At these gatherings a family or hereditary leader hosts guests in their family's house and holds a feast for their guests. The main purpose of the potlatch is the re-distribution and reciprocity of wealth.

Different events take place during a potlatch, like either singing and dances, sometimes with masks or regalia, such as Chilkat blankets, the barter of wealth through gifts, such as dried foods, sugar, flour, or other material things, and sometimes money. For many potlatches, spiritual ceremonies take place for different occasions. This is either through material wealth such as foods and goods or non-material things such as songs and dances. For some cultures, such as Kwakwaka'wakw, elaborate and theatrical dances are performed reflecting the hosts' genealogy and cultural wealth they possess. Many of these dances are also sacred ceremonies of secret societies like the hamatsa, or display of family origin from supernatural creatures such as the dzunukwa. Typically the potlatching is practiced more in the winter seasons as historically the warmer months were for procuring wealth for the family, clan, or village, then coming home and sharing that with neighbors and friends.

Within it, hierarchical relations within and between clans, villages, and nations, are observed and reinforced through the distribution or sometimes destruction of wealth, dance performances, and other ceremonies. The status of any given family is raised not by who has the most resources, but by who distributes the most resources. The hosts demonstrate their wealth and prominence through giving away goods." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potlatch)



Example

Potlatch (1954-57)

This item was added by an anonymous editor, and describes an initiative inspired by the Potlatch principle:

"The bulletin Potlatch appeared twenty-seven times, between 22 June 1954 and 5 November 1957. It was numbered from 1 to 29, with the bulletin dated 17 August 1954 being a triple issue (9, 10, 11). A weekly until this triple issue, Potlatch became a monthly upon its 12th issue.

Potlatch was successively edited by Andre-Frank Conord (#1-8), Mohamed Dahou (#9-18), Gil J Wolman (#19), again by Mohamed Dahou (#20-22) and Jacques Fillon (#23-24). These last issues no longer mentioned the principal person who was responsible for them. Starting from #26, it "ceased to be published monthly."

Potlatch presented itself as the "information bulletin of the French group of the Lettrist International" (#1-21), then as the "information bulletin of the Lettrist International" (#22-29). The Lettrist International was the organization of the "Lettrist Left," which in 1952 imposed a split in the "Lettrist" artistic avant-garde, and from that moment exploded it.

Potlatch was sent gratuitously to addresses chosen by its editors, and to several people who asked to receive it. It was never sold. In its first issue, Potlatch was printed in 50 copies. At the end, its print-run, through constant increase, reached 400 or perhaps even 500 copies. Precursor to what became called "pirate publishing" [l'edition sauvage] around 1970, but truer and more rigorous in its rejection of market relations, Potlatch -- obeying its title -- was only given away for free during the time it was published.

The strategic intention of Potlatch was to create certain liaisons to constitute a new movement, which was to be -- then and there -- a reunification of avant-garde cultural creation and the revolutionary critique of society. In 1957, the Situationist International effectively formed on such a basis. One will recognize situationist themes as already present here, in the lapidary formulations demanded by this special means of communication."