Potlatch - A Strict Law Bids Us Dance

Year Published: 1975

Creator: U'Mista Cultural Society

Format: 16mm

Sound: sound

Description: Discusses how through centuries the Kwakiutl Indians of the Northwest Pacific have developed a sophisticated culture based on the ceremonial giving away of surplus wealth harvested from the rich coastal areas, called Potlatch. Explains how this tradition was the basis of an indigenous social and economic ecology before the Canadian government outlawed the Potlatch in the Indian Act. Documents how the Indians attempt to maintain this important tradition in secrecy.