Potlatch

Native Ceremony and Myth on the Northwest Coast

Mary Giraudo Beck (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

128 Seiten

2013
Alaska Northwest Books (Verlag)
978-0-88240-820-0 (ISBN)

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Among the Northwest Coast Indians (Tlingit, Haida, and others), potlatches traditionally are lavish community gatherings marking important events, such as funerals or marriages. In celebrations that often last many days, sumptuous meals are served; legends about clans and ancestors are sung and enacted with dances, masks, costumes, and drums; totem poles are often raised; and gifts are presented to all guests. Through this custom, cultural ties are renewed and strengthened.

Using details from historical potlatches, and skillfully weaving in legends about animals and spirits revered by Natives—Raven, Grizzly Bear, Salmon, Frog—Mary Beck creates a compelling account of the potlatch ceremony and its place in a community's celebration of life, death, and continuity.

Mary Giraudo Beck has lived Ketchikan, Alaska, since 1951, when she married a third-generation Alaskan. Besides rearing a family, she taught literature and writing courses for thirty years at Ketchikan Community College, a branch of the University of Alaska. Mary has an abiding interest in the Native culture of Southeast Alaska and a commitment to recording its oral literature. Previous works include two books, Heroes and Heroines in Tlingit-Haida Legend and Shamans and Kushtakas: North Coast Tales of the Supernatural, essays on Native mythology, and articles on travel by small boat to towns and Native communities in Southeast Alaska.

Acknowledgments 4

INTRODUCTION 5

Raven Survives 12

CREMATION AND SMOKING FEAST 13

Raven Creates the Tides 22

PREPARATIONS 23

Raven and the Flood 34

THE INVITATION 35

Raven s Creations 44

HOUSE BUILDING 45

In the Whales Belly 54

WELCOME 55

Raven Sends Fish to the Streams 62

THE POTLATCH 63

Raven in a Fog 76

GIFTS AND PARTIES 77

Raven Loses His Beak 96

PRESTIGE POTLATCH 97

Raven and the Magic Seal Catcher 108

PEACE CEREMONY 109

Further Reading 126

Erscheint lt. Verlag	18.4.2013
Verlagsort	Portland
Sprache	englisch
Maße	154 x 228 mm
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie ► Volkskunde
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
ISBN-10	0-88240-820-8 / 0882408208
ISBN-13	978-0-88240-820-0 / 9780882408200
Zustand	Neuware